


Illuminate

by Inspectah_Deck



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Cat and Mouse, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Healing, Love, Past Child Abuse, Post-Finale, Psychological Trauma, Romance, Suspense, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 98,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25153510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inspectah_Deck/pseuds/Inspectah_Deck
Summary: Picking up some of the loose threads left after the Runaways series finale.The Runaways think they are safe. Little do they know multiple threats loom on the horizon to threaten everything they hold dear.
Relationships: Chase Stein/Gertrude Yorkes, Karolina Dean/Nico Minoru
Comments: 72
Kudos: 78





	1. By your side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still dealing with nightmares about his time in the Dark Dimension, Chase opens up to Gert about what happened during their visits there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You think I'd leave your side baby  
> You know me better than that  
> You think I'd leave you down  
> When you're down on your knees  
> I wouldn't do that  
> I'll tell you you're right when you want  
> And if only you could see into me

It's been two weeks since the Runaways' confrontation with Morgan Le Fay. The sheer thrill of victory has slowly subsided and the issues of day to day living have slowly taken centre stage. Life went on at the Hostel, Chase had moved back in with Gert the very same night that Morgan was defeated. Gert made the invitation and Chase did not need any further persuading, as he accepted emphatically, eagerly answering almost before she was done extending the invitation. They still bicker a lot in public, but now their disputes are playful and flirtatious: Chase deliberately says something obviously wrong or quotes coach Alphona just to get Gert to react. She happily plays along and pretends to be impatient with him, corrects him, calls him an idiot in the most loving way possible, followed by laughter and beaming at each other. Molly is the only one to openly enjoy it. The rest of the group rolls their eyes and jokingly tells them to get a room in a tone that conveys “we’re happy for you two”. Gert and Chase have been spending most days working on Gert’s college application at Smith, looking at the engineering programmes at nearby schools for Chase, and discussing the logistics of bringing Old Lace along.

Nico is so relieved that the whole mess with Morgan that she felt largely responsible for bringing upon Karolina and their friends got resolved that she even smiles at them and is uncharacteristically affectionate and complimentary with everyone. She is considering her future. She knows that she wants Karolina in it and that she needs to improve her witchcraft. Her inexperience, brash actions, and lack of control nearly brought catastrophe upon everyone and she will not allow a repeat of that. Not only are there members of Morgan’s coven still at large, but it’s very unlikely that Morgan Le Fay is the only magically gifted person with less than honourable intentions and Nico intends to be ready if there ever is a next time. Karolina is all smiles, as usual, but these days, it seems more like she’s trying to suppress a smile that she can’t help having rather than forcing it like she had done in the past. She has gotten her Nico back, and she looks forward to figuring out their next steps together. Being a Gibborim Messiah definitely isn’t her thing, but maybe she can find another way of helping people, possibly doing a psych degree at UCLA or something?

Molly, at Gert’s insistence, has decided to finish high school and get her degree. Beyond that, her aspirations are all about that superhero life. Her plan is fairly straightforward: to get her foot in the door somewhere, maybe get someone to put in a good word for her, and work her way up to full fledged hero. Okay, she hadn’t figured out the whole getting her foot in the door and having someone put in a good word for her parts, but, as far as Molly was concerned, those were just minor details that she’d figure out along the way. Molly knows that it makes Gert worried, but she relents when Molly tells her that it’s about making the world a better place. Besides taking online classes to finish her GED, Molly spends the bulk of her time training. And, of course, sleeping, lots of sleeping.

Something is off with Alex and everyone feels uncomfortable around him, especially being alone with him, but nobody can pinpoint what it is exactly that makes them feel this way. It doesn’t help that Alex never was the most open person in the first place and that it’s the one topic everyone knows not to bring up around Nico because she gets upset and raises her voice if she sees anyone try to it bring up in her presence. The cryptic warning Tandy gave them did not help either, and everyone wonders whether it was Alex who had fundamentally changed or if it was their perception. He has taken to isolating himself in front of the computer, and it looks like real effort for him to spend time with his friends. He tries his best to act normal, and he is almost Alex. It’s the slight discrepancies that show up every once in a while, that everyone finds unsettling, like how his reactions to things that he used to like either lack enthusiasm or he overcompensates by having inauthentic enthusiasm. Most group activities, he looks relieved to be done with by the time the end comes around.

* * *

Chase wakes up in the early hours of the morning in a cold sweat. He looks at the time. 4:32 AM. Ugh, not again. 

“Nightmares again?” Gert says half-asleep.

“Oh, did I wake you? I’m so sorry.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Chase tries his best to reassure Gert “It’s nothing. It’s just the same nightmare I keep having about the Dark Dimension.”

“Clearly, whatever happened is still bothering you. You toss and turn in your sleep and you wake up drenched in sweat in the middle of the night. Let me be there for you. I can’t do that if you won’t let me.” Gert says with a mixture of impatience and reassurance.

Chase hesitates. He turns to face Gert and his gaze meets hers. Gert used to hate how defenseless she was when he had those sad puppy eyes, but she has seriously mellowed out when it comes to that. She looks at him with such concern that his reluctance to share is rapidly overcome by his need to tell her. Communication issues had already cost them time together that he’d never get back and he had given her such shit for not telling him about her need for her anxiolytic medications and her college application that he would feel like a prick for not telling her. Plus, he had already tried to keep it to himself to prevent her from worrying about him and it clearly wasn’t working: Gert was growing more worried, which is never good for someone with anxiety issues, and the burden just felt heavier and heavier for Chase to carry everyday.

“It’s just… really painful.”

Gert knows full well that Chase finds it difficult to trust others enough to confide in them. It’s a shame, really, because he’s always the first in line to provide help whenever someone else needs it.

“I know and whatever it is, I want to help you.”

“You’re right. I wanted to tell you, but I always thought that I’d have wrapped my head around it first. I guess I didn’t want you to worry about me or maybe I was the one who was afraid. It was stupid and insecure of me and I’m sorry about that. You remember the last time we were in the Dark Dimension when we came by where I had been during our first visit there?”

“Of course, you looked like you’d seen a ghost.”

“Yeah, thank you so much for being there that day by the way, I don’t know if I could have kept it together if you hadn’t been there with me. It's just - I sometimes can’t get what happened during our visits to the Dark Dimension out of my head. I’ll tell you, but please, before you say anything just hear me out first.”

“I promise I’ll listen.”

Chase sits up on their bed, resting his back against the headboard and Gert sits up next to him. He takes a deep breath and when he starts speaking, his tone turns flat and emotionless, and his gaze seems fixated in the distance: “That diner we saw was from my father’s memories. My grandfather had a diner just like it. When I first got there during my first visit to the Dark Dimension, I saw my dad’s car parked in front of the place. Two people were having a fight inside of it. I knew right away what was going on. It was my grandfather beating my father…” Chase suddenly gets choked up with emotion. He locks eyes with Gert as he does his best to fight back tears his voice grows shaky as he continues “… the same way my father used to beat me.”

Chase’s admission feels like a punch to the stomach to Gert. It’s a good thing that Chase pauses at that moment to recollect himself because Gert would have been oblivious to anything he said immediately after that. She had known Chase all these years and yet she had been unaware until then of something so important to his life. She knew that Victor Stein was a stone cold bastard, it was obvious to anyone who spent any significant amount of time with the man outside of public appearances, but she never thought that he was an _abusive_ bastard.

As the reality of Chase’s confession sinks in, memories of her times with Chase come flooding in and she remembers how harshly she judged him for his actions at the time, like how she thought that he was an idiot for continuing to play lacrosse due to the number of mysterious injuries that he attributed to the sport. She had always known that the douchebro façade that he had put up before the group reconnected was fake, but she had never understood why he would be like that. She used to get mad because Real Chase was the guy she pined over for so long, not some roided out jockstrap who had conversations about protein shakes with Brandon and Lucas of all people. Now that she knows, her interpretation changes to that of a kid so desperate for approval that he would seek it even from the wrong people and who ran away from his problems because problems like this are overwhelming to a kid. She wonders how she could have failed to see it for so long. She quickly sets aside the reinterpretation of her memories for a later time and her thoughts refocus to the present moment: Chase needs someone to be there for him and she had decided that she was going to be that person if he let her.

Gert reaches out with her hand and strokes his cheek before gently guiding his head to her shoulder as she leans back against the bed headboard and starts running her fingers through his hair, caressing his head. Chase relaxes a bit, sighs to regain his composure and continues: “I managed to get my grandfather to run after me. I lost him and circled back to the car. When I got in, I saw my dad, helpless, bruised, and battered. I think it’s the first time I ever saw him scared. It didn’t take long for my grandfather to come back. He broke the rear window with a baseball bat and asked which one of us wanted to die first. My dad went out before we had a chance to make a plan. My grandfather hit him with the bat. I came out the other door and managed to grab the bat from behind before he got the chance to swing again.”

Chase grows agitated again, struggling with what he is going to say: “Then I swung at my grandfather with the bat. He went down and I kept swinging and swinging while he was down. I was just... so angry that I lost control until my dad stepped in to stop me. I was about to swing at him too before he told me to swing if I needed to, but that abuse is always a choice. The next time we were in the dark dimension, when you were there with me, there was a graffiti spray painted on my grandfather’s diner that said, ‘you can never escape’. I know it was a personal message for me. I never want to be like my father and my grandfather, but I know that it’s in me and I hate that about myself.”

At that point, Chase stops talking, and Gert understands that it’s her turn to say something. She caresses the back of Chase’s neck as she rummages through her thoughts, triages them and tries to organize them into something that would be useful and at least have the semblance of coherence. Anxiety may have been a pain in the ass, but the tricks she had learned to manage it help a lot with organizing her thoughts.

She speaks softly, pausing between every point to make sure that they all would register: “Chase, I-I’m so sorry. What happened to you was terrible and you didn’t deserve any of it, nobody does. I want you to know that I believe in you, that you’re going to do better than escape, you’re going to beat that thing, as many times as you have to. You’re not your father. You managed to live through his abuse and somehow, you’re still the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. That takes so much character, to have your upbringing and still be so kind and considerate. Even when I was dealing with my own issues when we weren’t together and I was constantly giving you a hard time about everything because of it, you were always steadfast and respectful with me, so I know that you can do this. Repeatedly swinging at your abusive grandfather with a baseball bat wasn’t right, but it certainly was understandable. I mean, I felt angry just hearing what happened to you. Maybe you should learn what there is to learn from this and move on. You’re super smart and determined: you figured out a plan to time travel and save my life because it was important to you. This is important to you too, so you’ll also figure it out. The Dark Dimension is Morgan Le Fay’s realm: it’s designed to torture people with their worst nightmares. You try so hard to keep all those negative things to yourself and you bottle up all these emotions that you're afraid to feel because you don't want to be like your father and also because you never felt safe communicating with someone who might hurt you if what you said angered them. But in the end, those pent up emotions don't just go away, they fester and end up hurting you and those around you. You’re out of the Dark Dimension now, don’t do Morgan's work for her and torture yourself with what happened there. And you don’t have to do it alone either, I’ll be there with you every step of the way to help you, along with our friends if you need them.”

Chase takes in every one of Gert’s words. Intellectually, he knows that everything Gert is saying is right, but emotionally, he has blamed himself for so long for what his father did to him that he has a hard time accepting it. He knows how hard he has worked not to become like his father: for years, not wanting to be like his father meant taking responsibility for their relationship and since his father had spent years never taking responsibility for the abuse, Chase felt the need to take responsibility for both of them. Despite all his efforts not to become like his father or maybe because of them, he had never felt good enough. Even his lacrosse buddies were a manifestation of him settling for mediocre friendships. He certainly knew that he’d never have to talk about anything serious with them, which was their main appeal: unlike Gert, they were too self-absorbed to ask the type of insightful questions that would make Chase feel uncomfortable or slip up and accidentally reveal his secret. Yet, despite all his flaws and insecurities, he’s with the girl of his dreams. He respects Gert's opinion more than anyone else’s: not only is she smart and knowledgeable, but she’s also principled and honest to a fault, even if it means rubbing someone or even everyone the wrong way. He knows that she wouldn’t be with him just out of pity or convenience and that if she thought that he was being an idiot, she’d have told him as she had done so many times in the past. It will take months, even years for him to fully process her words and internalize them so completely that they would become second nature to him, but at least, the process has begun.

Being with Gert is the best thing that had ever happened to him, and Chase considers himself extremely fortunate to have been given a second chance. He always fully intended to make good on that chance if she gave it to him. Given how the issues arising from the abusive relationship between himself and his father had already sabotaged his relationship with Gert before, that means doing anything and everything necessary to deal with his insecurities and his anger issues. Gert has her own issues too and he was going to be there for her come hell or high water to help her with her anxiety. For the first time, Chase truly understands how ride or die Gert is for him, and it makes him feel a tremendous amount of gratitude that she feels the same way and strengthens his resolve to deal with his problems.

He lifts his head from Gert’s shoulder and turns to face her. She snaps out of going through her personal compendium of Chase moments, amending every entry she could remember where she had given an uncharitable interpretation for Chase’s actions. His look is smoldering and serious, which makes the contrast with his usually laid back self all the more attention grabbing. “I just want you to know that you’re right, and that I’ll do everything I can to deal with this, including seeking help when it gets too much for me to handle by myself. I know it sounds cheesy, but I love you, you’re the girl of my dreams, and I want a future with you. You’ve made me so happy, and I want to make you happy too. That means no longer running from my problems, no more keeping things bottled up until they eat away at me from the inside out. I know it might take a while for me to feel comfortable doing it and that I might stumble and fail from time to time, but I will do it. Thank you, Gertrude Yorkes, you truly are amazing.”

Gert’s heart swells with joy inside her chest at hearing Chase’s words. She was never one for sentimentality, but it never seems sappy when Chase tells her that he loves her and she has a big smile on her face and her eyes are tearing up. She never felt as comfortable as Chase expressing her feelings for him, but at that moment, she desperately wants him to know how much she loves him. As she’s about to speak, Chase gets a mischievous grin on his face and continues: “Like coach Alphona always said…”

Completely blindsided by the joke, Gert starts laughing so hard that tears run down her face. “Chase Stein, you big dope! Way to ruin the moment!” She pushes Chase onto his back and climbs on top of him. “Well, you’re not ruining this moment”, she says seductively and kisses him long and deep. As she pulls away to gaze into his eyes, Chase and Gert understand what they mean to each other perfectly, no words necessary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to comment. Regardless of if it's what you like about the story or what you think could be improved, I enjoy the feedback.


	2. Daughter of a Preacher Woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pillow talk between Karolina and Nico.
> 
> Alex contemplates the choices before him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Being good isn't always easy  
> No matter how hard I try  
> When she started sweet-talkin' to me  
> She'd come and tell me, "Everything is alright"  
> She'd kiss and tell me, "Everything is alright"  
> Can I get away again tonight?

Nico rolls off Karolina, panting and fulfilled. Karolina gives new meaning to the word afterglow. They lay together, in silence, for a few minutes. Nico is the first one to break the silence. “Wow, that was… amazing.”

Karoline responds by smiling from ear to ear. Nico is always so smitten with Karolina’s smile: it's so pure and warm, without any bad intentions behind it. Well, maybe there was a bit of coyness there.

“No reason Gert and Chase should have all the fun,” Karolina replies playfully.

Nico jokingly rolls her eyes “Oh, please don’t mention them. I’m really happy for them and everything, but could they possibly make it more awkward for those of us who happen to be around?”

Karolina chuckles and responds: “Yeah, I agree, but I still think it’s sweet though.”

Nico smiles. She loves the way Karolina always looks at the bright side of things. Her optimism has never failed to give the team hope and courage to press on and find solutions to even the direst of predicaments.

“Saccharine sweet, maybe,” Nico quips.

Karoline giggles. “Maybe a little, but honestly, when they look at each other, I think that I could get lost in your eyes that way pretty easily too.”

As she says that, she peers into Nico’s eyes. Nico feels as though Karolina peers into every part of her being and sees her for herself, without any of the artifices that she puts up to push away people. Nico feels vulnerable. With other people, feeling this way would make her want to lash out to avoid getting hurt, but she trusts Karolina so completely that she doesn’t feel scared at all. If anything, she wants to share herself even more. As Nico looks back into Karolina’s eyes, trying to convey how much love she feels for her through her gaze, she trails off: “I guess… you do… make… a… fair… point…”

It’s a good thing Karolina is lying in bed at that point, because the look Nico is giving her would have made her knees buckle if she were standing up. Nico was the first person to see her for herself and accept her as she was and she drew strength from that to learn to be herself. Having grown up as the face of the Gibborim church plastered on billboards across the city, she always felt the need to be this perfect little girl that always did as she was told. The disconnect between the image she felt pressured to project to please her parents and the knowledge that she didn’t want to live that life had always made her feel like a complete screw up.

She had long known that she wasn’t whoever that girl on the posters was supposed to be, that she couldn’t possibly live up to the expectation of being her nor that she didn’t want that either even if she could, but she had tried so hard to be that person that she had some serious catching up to do with herself. Anyone telling her the tried and true advice to be herself would have triggered an uncomfortable inner questioning about who she was. Yet talking with Nico came so naturally that she had never had to even ask herself those questions during their interactions. Nico seemed to have her figured out without ever being judgemental about it. It made Karolina feel free to explore who she wanted to be while also feeling safe and accepted.

Karolina asks “So… what are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking how much I love you and sort of wondering how to make it work going forward.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we just barely managed to get through with Morgan and I’m thinking how lucky we all were that everything turned out okay, and that if there ever is a next time, we might not be so lucky,” Nico’s shifts around, seeming uncomfortable, and continues, in a confessional tone, ”and if anything bad had happened to you, I never could have forgiven myself for it.”

Karolina senses the deep guilt that Nico feels over the events that transpired. She pulls Nico in closer and hugs her tight. If only Nico could see herself as others see her.

“You know, Nico, nobody here holds what happened against you. We all messed up. I went to Jonah for guidance and you still forgave me. Maybe you should forgive yourself from time to time?”

Nico is moved to tears by the warmth in Karolina. She loves her so much.

“Umm, yeah…” she says, trying to regain her composure. “What I was trying to get at is that I love you and I want to make it work with you. I know that I have to get stronger in my magical abilities, and I need help and guidance to do that. I’d like to talk to my mother about the possibilities to see if which ones could work for us.”

Karolina smiles. As if Nico needed to ask.

“I think it’s a great idea. I’d like to be there.”

* * *

Alex sits at his computer.

Alone.

Again. 

He’s feeling pretty ambivalent about it. On the one hand, he feels lonely. On the other hand, seeing the look of concern on his friends’ faces and the way they try to hide their obvious discomfort gets to be hard to bear. He knows they mean well, but he doesn’t want the attention, he just wants things to go back to the way they were back when… well, things have been messed up for so long that he has a hard time remembering when they weren’t that way. Losing his mind slowly while getting tortured in the Dark Dimension. Losing himself to an alien that took over his body. Losing his mother. Losing Livvie. Losing Nico to Karolina. Losing his group of friends after not showing up for Amy’s funeral. Losing Amy in the most incomprehensible way possible. And now, that note in his handwriting. He looks it over again, although he knows it by heart.

  1. Infiltrate Wilder Innovators
  2. Hide Mancha
  3. Kill Nico



That’s a pretty nefarious list right there: infiltration, concealment, and murder. And who’s Mancha? He knows that this note was left by his time travelling future self, it’s the only interpretation that makes any sense. Except that it presently makes no sense. As puzzling as it all is, what puzzles him the most isn’t the cryptic message that he left for himself, but that he’s not horrified by it at all. He has no real desire to kill Nico or any of his friends either, he has nothing but love for them, especially after they all went through hell and back to save him. Yet somehow, the thought of carrying out the act doesn’t faze him one bit.

He ponders his options. Does he tell the rest of the gang about the message? How will they react if he does? Will things get even weirder and more awkward? They’re already so weird and awkward right now. Alex had always been a planner, even his gaming was a way to strategize. But now, he is at a loss: what’s he supposed to do. Should he play along with some of its instructions to see how it plays out? And why the numbering? Was there supposed to be some sort of order in which to do these tasks or did he rank them by order of importance?

He is growing exasperated with his predicament. He’s free from the Dark Dimension, but it did something to him and while he did escape from that place, there’s nowhere he can go where he can escape from himself. As he sits there, ruminating about his problems, his cell phone rings. It’s his father. He responds tersely: “Hi.”

Geoffrey hesitates a little before speaking: “Ummm, hi Alex, it’s your dad.”

“I know. Call display is standard on smart phones. Plus, I can recognize your voice too, you know.” Alex wasn’t going to make this easy on his father. Geoffrey is taken aback by the standoffish response Alex gave him, but still, he reminds himself of the reason for his call.

Geoffrey answers somewhat sheepishly “Right, of course.”

Alex goes on the attack. “How did you get my number anyway?”

“I, uh, got some help from Tina Minoru. Listen, the reason I’m calling is that I know that I’ve done a lot of things that I’m ashamed of and I wouldn’t hold it against you if you don’t want to talk to me, but I’d like to make things right between us if it’s at all possible.”

An uncomfortable silence lingers for what seems like an eternity before Geoffrey clears his throat and speaks again. “As I was saying, I know that I haven’t done right by you or your friends. That ends today. As I said, I’ll understand if you want nothing to do with me, but it won’t be because I didn’t make every effort to set things right. Your mother isn’t here with us today and I suppose that I have a large part of responsibility for that, getting involved with Jonah and all that bullshit, but I know that if she were alive, she’d want us to be a family again.”

Hearing his father mention his mother stirs something inside Alex. All the guilt and grief that he has managed to not let himself feel by burying it under a mountain of denial, distraction, and self-deception is just trying to claw its way back to the surface with a vengeance.

“Mom’s dead, dad. Nothing we can do about that.” Upon hearing himself say these words, Alex realizes how much harsher that sounded than what he intended. If this conversation stays on this topic for much longer, he might just crack, so he softens his tone and changes the topic. “So anyway, what are you proposing?”

Geoffrey isn’t used to being talked to like this anymore. The last person who had talked to him like that was Catherine. Tough, no nonsense, all business. Alex really is like his mother. Geoffrey had rehearsed this endlessly in his head, yet still feels woefully unprepared.

“Umm, yeah, right. I was thinking, I grew up on the streets, so I know how hard it is to get by like you and your friends did. But I don’t think that just getting by is enough, especially for you. Alex, you’re smart, wicked smart, and I just think that living in an abandoned half buried house isn’t living up to your potential. You could be so much more.”

“I think I’ve done pretty well for myself up to now,” Alex said, in a gesture of empty defiance.

Geoffrey remains completely calm and continues, unaffected by Alex’s response. “You have, but you and I both know that you could do so much more with your talents given the right situation. I just want to give you the chance to be who you were meant to be.”

“And I suppose you’re going to tell me who that’s supposed to be?” Alex is just being difficult for the sake of being difficult at this point.

“No, no, not at all,” his father protests. He exhales and continues “Listen, I’ve been taking steps to start up a tech company, all completely legit. I’d like to bring you on board. You’d be given free reign, within reason, to do what you want while you attend university. Most students graduate without experience and find out that getting that first job without experience is the hardest thing. You’d be getting flexible hours to work on the projects that you want doing something you enjoy. Where are you going to get a better deal than that?”

Several seconds elapse as Geoffrey awaits Alex’s response. “Keep talking, I’m interested.”


	3. Time Bomb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gert and Chase have a free day
> 
> Also, Nico seeks help and gets unexpected information about the Staff of One.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, she's back in the hole where they got 'em living  
> Like a rat but she's smarter than that nine lives  
> Like a cat fifteen years old take her to the youth authority home  
> First thing you learn you gotta make it in this world alone  
>   
> Also: wanted to give credit to nevernevergirl and lookingforthestars: I incorporated some elements of their stories into my stories. I hope they don't mind.

Molly and Chase were finishing their morning run. Molly had decided to take up training seriously to pursue her dreams, and Chase’s athletics background made him the one best suited to help her with conditioning. He couldn’t help but be impressed with her physical strength and her dedication. Although she was a little unfocussed at times, she had an enormous amount of drive.

“Alright,” he says as they approach a steep hill, “we’re almost back. All that’s left is that hill up ahead. Wanna race me up it?”

“You bet,” replies Molly, always up for a challenge.

“Okay,” says Chase, “in 3… 2… 1… GO!”

They both start sprinting up the hill. While Chase is doing his best, Molly just has too much power in her strides for him to even have a chance. If he had been running by himself, his uphill sprint would have looked impressive, but next to Molly, he simply looks like a mere mortal trying to compete with a force of nature. Despite his best efforts, Molly’s putting some serious distance between them, each one of her strides being more than twice as long as his. When he reaches the top of the hill, Molly is standing there waiting for him with a proud of herself smile on her face alongside Gert and Old Lace.

“You just got beat by a girl, dude,” Molly teases him.

Chase would laugh, but he is too winded. “Alright, don’t get too cocky,” he says, catching his breath. He then looks over at Gert and grins mischievously: “Besides, I don’t mind, I lose to girls all the time.”

Gert smiles and rolls her eyes simultaneously, exactly the reaction Chase was aiming for.

Molly eagerly asks Chase: “So, what’s next?”

“Normally I’d do weights, but I don’t have my stuff here. Plus, even if I did, I don’t think that I’d have anything heavy enough for you anyways, so we’re going to have to be creative.”

Gert sits in a chair and tries to read a book, but the sight of Chase and Molly doing plyometric exercises turns out to be too entertaining not to watch, so she just pretends to read while enjoying the scene. Chase is so kind with Molly, patiently explaining exercises even when she is goofing around. Things take a turn for the weird when Molly does lunges with Old Lace on her back and Chase on Old Lace’s back. As surreal and amusing as the whole scene would be to simply observe, having direct psychic access to Old Lace’s sense of complete confusion when Chase tries to place everyone in position proves to be too much for Gert, who bursts out laughing. Old Lace is a little miffed by Gert’s reaction and her attempt to explain the concept of exercise to a deinonychus proves to be a little too abstract, so Gert just tells her it’s play. At first, Old Lace is skeptical, but pretty soon, she is enjoying herself like a five-year-old kid at the park. _Old Lace, you’re such a good girl_.

After roughly forty minutes, Chase peeks back at Gert, still pretending to read. She looks back down at her book as fast as she can. _Smooth_ , she thinks sarcastically to herself. When she looks back up, he’s smiling at her. _Busted_. She shrugs her shoulders, closes her book, and smiles back. Soon after, Chase walks over to Gert and says “Okay, I think I’m done with exercises for today. I’m going to rehydrate and take a shower.” He then hesitates, before continuing: “Ummm, I was thinking... we sent out our college applications yesterday... and we have the whole day ahead of us. And, uh… I’d like to spend it with you… if you don’t mind. I saw that there’s a screening of _Modern Times_ this evening. I was wondering if… maybe… you’d like to go with me?” He briefly pauses before blurting out “Molly is welcome to come along, of course,” so rapidly that it sounds like a single word and Gert needs several seconds to decipher the sentence.

Chase is grateful that he was already covered in exercise sweat, or else the cold sweats he was having might have shown. In his mind, he slow claps himself for his anything but suave delivery.

“Chase Stein, are you asking me out on a date?”

Chase smiles sheepishly and Gert detects a mild panic in his face to a question that she intended to ask playfully. _Why would he be nervous to ask me? Of course! It’s because of what I said about dating being heteronormative!_ She stands up, takes his hands in hers and does her best impression of a heroine in a Jane Austen period piece as she says: “My dearest Mr. Stein, I would be delighted to spend the day with you and attend this soirée you mentioned. It sounds like a splendid idea.”

As she says this, the look on Chase’s face goes from confusion, to relief, to unabashed joy. Gert loves how expressive his face is. She continues in her Austen heroine accent: “I, however, have two strict conditions for this date.”

Chase furrows his brow inquisitively. Gert goes back to her normal voice: “I’ll gladly go see the movie with you. I mean Charlie Chaplin, in a movie about the dehumanizing effects of chain factory work set contemporaneously in the Great Depression era is right up my alley and I think you’ll like it too. I really look forward to talking about it with you afterwards. My first condition is, it’s fine if Molly spends the afternoon with us if she wants to, but I’d like for the movie to be a _you and me_ thing. Secondly, I was thinking, could we do something you want to do this afternoon so that it’s not all about my interests? Apparently, there’s a good exhibit on artificial intelligence at the science center. When I learned about it, I immediately thought that you’d be into that. Maybe we could do that?”

Chase’s entire face lights up. _She knows me so well._ “Yeah, I’d love that, actually. Okay, I’m gonna go get ready so we can get started.”

Chase leaves and soon after, Molly comes over to Gert.

“So, I take it from that smile on your face that Chase asked you out.”

“Yeah, he did,” she answers a little dreamily. Gert suddenly snaps back to reality: “Wait, you were in on it?”

Molly smiles like a criminal mastermind about to reveal her big evil plan. “Of course, I was,” Molly answers as if Gert should have guessed from the very beginning. She continues in a mock boastful tone: “You should be thanking your lucky stars that I was there to talk to him, because he’d still be trying to figure out the right way to ask you. You’re welcome by the way.”

“Oh, so you don’t think a girl can ask a guy out on a date?” Gert raises her brow and gives Molly a smartass look as she continues: “Maybe I wanted to ask him.”

Other people might get irritated with Gert’s response, but Molly is familiar enough with the drill to know not to engage with Gert’s sassiness. She asks in an innocent tone: “So… why didn’t you?”

 _Rumbled_. “ _Touché_ ,” Gert admits. “Oh Molly, you’re the best sister anyone could hope for. What am I going to do without you?”

Molly responds mock seriously: “I know I’m an awesome sister, so thanks for acknowledging that.” Gert detected her smartass influence on her sister right there. “Also, you’re not going to be without me. You can call me whenever you want and we’ll keep in touch, right?”

“Of course. It’s just… I’m going to miss being able to see you every day.” She hesitates before continuing “And I’m going to worry about you.”

“… Especially since I decided to use my powers,” Molly asks.

“Yeah, I know that I can’t talk you out of it or anything and that it’s my issue to deal with. Just… please be careful.”

“I understand. I will. Plus, Alex will be around. Karolina too. Nico too, I hope.”

“Don’t forget to count me and Chase. Those phone things work both ways, you know. Maybe we won’t be able to help as much as we normally could, but we’ll be glad to do what we can.”

Molly would jump in Gert’s arms if she weren’t so sweaty. “You’re the best!”

“Thanks, I know,” she says with a joking smirk, ”I’m going back to my room while Chase gets ready.”

Molly gives Gert a knowing look. “You just want to get an eyeful when Chase comes out of the shower and gets dressed. Go, live your truth!”

 _Rumbled again_. Gert rolls her eyes and smiles at the same time for the second time today. Again, she has the same reaction as the one who spoke the words that elicited the reaction intended. “Oh, Molly please stop,” she says while trying to keep herself from laughing and walking away because she knows if she sees Molly’s face, she’s going to crack up. While walking away, she says "By the way, Chase and I are going to see an exhibit at the science center this afternoon. You're welcome to come along."

"Okay, but only if you guys stop for breakfast first, I'm starving."

* * *

Nico and Karolina sit down next to one another at the dinner table over at Tina Minoru’s house. Nico couldn’t help but be shocked by the redecorating that her mother had made to the house she had grown up in. Tina hadn’t finished painting yet, but the achromatic tones on the entrance and living room walls had been replaced by warm colours and were adorned by numerous frames containing pictures of Robert, Amy, Nico, and Tina in every possible permutation. Tina had invited them over after she heard Nico’s request for information regarding her options to train with someone to improve her magical abilities. Tina Minoru’s hair was pulled back in a high bun. A single strand of grey hairs had made its appearance, growing out just above the left side of her forehead, no doubt the result of her use of blood magic to enchant the salt that was used to contain Morgan. She still has a commanding presence, but an ever so slight tinge of frailty noticeable only to Nico for the moment had appeared, but that over the years will become noticeable to others. Still, there is an undeniable playful twinkle in Tina’s eyes as she sits down across the table from Nico and Karolina and she is in high spirits receiving them.

Nico is still a little disoriented by the changes in décor that had occurred, but thankfully the kitchen and dining area remain unchanged for now. The entire experience had been confusing to Nico, starting with the hug that Tina had initiated upon her and Karolina’s arrival. Nico privately wondered if this was her mother’s attempt to keep herself busy following Robert’s death or if she had genuinely reached such a level of serenity. Karolina is uncharacteristically nervous. Even if she had never met Tina, Karolina would still have been a little tense meeting her girlfriend’s mother. Her prior history with Tina just compounded her nervousness. Tina’s presence had long made her uneasy and the last time she had been at the Minoru residence, Tina had mopped the floor with her and Karolina was still intimidated. Still, she is somewhat surprised to see Tina Minoru actually being pleasant and making small talk.

Tina brings entrées and sits across the table from them. She gets straight to the point: “So, you told me you wanted to know your options regarding your training?”

“Yes,” Nico responds, “I’m thinking that we were very fortunate that things turned out so well. It was way too close for comfort and I don’t want anything like that to ever happen again. I feel all this power surging through me whenever I cast a spell, but I can’t control it.”

Tina responds: “I understand, I had the same issue when I was your age. It’s how Morgan first tried to get her hooks into me.”

Nico and Karolina both look at Tina with a _tell us more_ face.

Tina notices and explains: “Morgan and I both studied under the same master. She was a couple of years ahead of me and was inexplicably the most popular student there.”

Karolina can’t help but chime in: “Well, that sounds familiar.”

Tina continues: “Yes. She quickly befriended me. She would stay after class and help me by showing me advanced spells. I didn’t understand it at the time, but her adoring followers were cursed, and she was in the process of putting an enchantment on me as well. By the time I realized what was happening, I was also under her spell. One day, she tasked me with retrieving the Staff of One for her. Her enchantment made it so that I had no choice but obey her command and bring her the staff, which I did. However, I still had a will to resist and she didn’t mention in what condition it would have to be. I put a curse on the staff that would banish Morgan to the Dark Dimension without a way to come back if she ever tried to use it. When she did, my trap worked as planned. It also freed her followers from her control. Afterwards, I took the staff for safekeeping.”

Nico asks: “So, if Morgan was banished, how did she come back?”

Tears start welling up in Tina Minoru’s eyes, but she doesn’t break eye contact as she continues: “I think that I may have been responsible for that. It happened when Amy died. I was so desperate to bring her back that I cast a spell that I couldn’t control. It didn’t work, but I think it cracked the seal between myself and Morgan. Afterwards, I continued using it; something about using the staff makes its users feel dead inside, and if I couldn’t have Amy back, that’s what I wanted most of all at that time, to not feel anything. So, I cut myself off from Robert, from you…”

“Mom, you don’t need to…”

Tina cuts her off: “Nico, please. I’m telling you all this, so you understand: The Staff of One is powerful, but wielding it exerts a toll.” She looks at Nico with such pride, “I don’t want that for you.” Tina looks at Karolina as she continues: “Nico, it seems to me that you have been fortunate and surrounded yourself with great people who love you and are true friends. It’s very rare and precious, being surrounded with people who love you so much that they’re willing to go through hell and back for you. You should hold onto them; it's not the staff that saved your life.”

Nico squeezes Karolina’s hand tighter. Karolina is stunned. _Did Tina Minoru just pay me a compliment?_ It takes several seconds for her to process this unexpected compliment enough to respond: “Thank you, Mrs. Minoru.”

Tina laughs. “Mrs. Minoru? Please, call me Tina.”

Karolina is unsure how to react, so she looks over at Nico, who is smiling at her so hard that she can’t help but be reassured and smile back.

“I’d like to do things in a way that allows Karolina and I to be together if it’s possible. If not, something that allows us to be together as much as possible.”

“I applied to go to UCLA.” Karolina mentions.

“Good. I hope it’s not too intrusive to ask in what,” asks Tina Minoru.

“Psychology.” Karolina says, trying to seem calm and confident when just the thought of Tina Minoru still induces a little bit of fear in her.

“Oh, that’s wonderful.” Tina says with genuine joy and warmth. _Most people are intimidated by Tina. Most people are intimidated by Nico too_ , Karolina thinks to herself. And yet, Nico is the most loving person Karolina has ever known, so she was determined to make a good effort to get along with Tina Minoru.

Tina turns to Nico and continues: “Well, to get Nico started, I could help out. I also know someone. I took the liberty to call in a favour and I got you a meeting with him. He’s kind of an asshole, but he’s the best.”

Nico is a little bit shocked because she only remembers her mother using vulgar language when talking about Morgan Le Fay and Janet Stein.

Yellowish sparks forming a circular pattern appear and grows. Inside the middle of the pattern is a portal.

“He only agreed to see you if you go now," Tina says, "Sorry you have to learn it this way. You should go.”

She looks at Karolina and Nico and notices Nico's hesitation: “I promise I’ll be nice with your girlfriend.”

Karolina gives Nico the nod to signify her agreement. Nico walks through the opened portal and into a large library. The portal closes behind her. A single man stands, facing away from her and looking at the impressive library. He turns around and faces Nico.

“Hello, I’m doctor Stephen Strange. I expect to be referred to as Dr. Strange. I want you to know that I’m only doing this as a favour to your mother.”

The matter of factly tone in his voice completely throws Nico into a state of bemusement.

“Please do not take this the wrong way, Ms. Minoru, I am merely stating the conditions upon which you are arriving. Tina and I had a major falling out years ago. If she’s calling in favours, I believe that it is a matter of significant importance. Please tell me why you are here.”

“I, uh, am here to train? With you?”

“Is this Tina’s idea of a joke?” he asks, again in an impossible to decipher tone.

“No! No! I assure you it’s not! I do magic. I nearly caused a magical apocalypse in California. I feel power course its way through my veins whenever I cast a spell, but I can’t control it. I have a staff. With it, I can cast almost any spell I want. A sorceress named Morgan Le Fay tried to gain control of the staff through me, because it’s bound to my blood somehow. We only managed to pull through because one of my friends came back through time and died for us.”

Dr Strange looks on with no discernable change in his expression throughout her explanation, but obviously listening very carefully.

“I see. Well then, I think I have to help you. And please tell your time travelling friend not to mess with timelines again. As custodian of the Time Stone, it could force me to have to clean up his messes.”

“Well, technically, he hasn’t done it yet, so…”

A book levitates out of a shelf and slowly makes its way to Nico.

“Magic has multiple schools of thought. Some believe that emotions should rule magic because magic is ultimately fueled by emotion. Those wiser, such as myself, think that letting emotions run wild makes one easier to beat with logic. It’s the magical equivalent of a brawler getting taken out by someone who wields magic with surgical precision. Emotions fuel magic. To master them is to master magic.”

“Wow, that’s a very sweeping statement.” Nico replies, suddenly feeling less shy.

Doctor Strange smiles ever so slightly: “That’s bold from someone who just told me they nearly caused a sorceress apocalypse.”

As the book floats in front of Nico, Dr Strange continues “This is _Principiis Magicae,_ **the** classic in magical literature. To not have read it is to court genuine ignorance about all things magical. I am lending it to you. I expect it back in the same condition it's currently in. So please, no eating while reading.”

Nico reaches out for the book. “Thanks.”

“Please tell me more about the staff.”

“I know my mother stole it under the commands of Morgan le Fay. My mother cast a curse on the staff that made it so that it backfired on Morgan and she ended up in the Dark Dimension.”

“Ah, yes, Morgan, ever power hungry. Nice to see some things never change,” he says so casually. “Please continue.”

“It’s called the Staff of One. My mother bound it to herself, and since I share her blood, it passed onto me and it's now bound to me and my blood. It comes out of my chest when I bleed. It’s the most powerful weapon in existence.”

The Doctor reacts ever so slightly. Nico thinks she sees a slight flicker of fear appear into his eyes at her mention of the staff, which he subdues so rapidly that she starts to doubt if she even saw it. 

“Everything you just said is no doubt correct, but it's incomplete. It seems to me that you have quite the situation here, Ms. Minoru. The Staff of One is a cursed weapon. You must listen to me very carefully, your life depends on it, and so do the lives of many others, especially your loved ones. This weapon was originally created after a long battle in which a mystical entity known as the One was defeated by a magician. After its defeat, it was offered a choice: agree to magically be forged into a weapon of great power, or be slain. It agreed to become a weapon, but The One is a parasitic magical entity that feeds on those who wield magic. It figured out a clever way to get itself a lifetime supply, which is a good deal, for an eternal entity. It does so in the following way: it attracts ever greater, pain, grief, and most of all danger to whoever wields the staff. The wielder is forced to grow stronger every danger they face. Throughout the process, the staff allows the wielder to grow ever more powerful and feeds off the intense negative emotions of the wielder such as terror, rage, and grief to fuel ever more powerful spells… I repeat, it will put the wielder and those whom the wielder loves in ever increasing danger, until the day the user is finally felled by another being, at which point it latches onto another host. Ever the fool, Morgan failed to see the danger right before her: either the wielder of the staff would become too powerful for her to control, or The One would latch onto her as a host.”

Nico listens on in horror. As bad as Morgan was, she only wanted to rule the world, even if doing so meant destroying it in the process. And yet, she would have felt bad for Morgan even as the staff would use her megalomania to feast on her.

“Please do not feel terrified, Ms. Minoru, this parasite feeds on this emotion. I need you to understand that it is possible to beat this curse. But you will have to do as I say and learn to master yourself to do so. Starting with reading the book I lent you.”

“You lent out a book without telling me?” a man’s voice says from behind Nico, who is clearly startled.

“Sorry to startle you, Ms. Minoru, I’m Wong. I’m the custodian of these books and the wisdom they contain. Did Dr Strange tell you about not eating near the books? Can I see,” he asks while gesturing to the book in Nico's hands.

She hands it over “Oh, _Principiis Magicae_. It’s pretty heavy reading. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great and brilliant and has truly earned all the accolades that have been bestowed upon it. But I understand that it can seem a little… dry. That’s what I thought when I first read it. It’s only when I re-read it years later with a greater baggage of knowledge that I was able to appreciate it more fully.” He gives Nico a sheepish smile “The coffee ring stain on page 292 is from me. Please be careful, I still haven’t lived it down,” he says benevolently.

“Yes,” says Doctor Strange calmly, “it appears as though a young woman with a curse that could end life as we know has found her way to us.”

“I will help in whatever way I can. Are you two done? I can think of several key recommendations that will make _Principiis Magicae_ more accessible,” says Wong, surprising Nico by taking it all in stride.

“Almost. Ms. Minoru, I have some good news, some bad news, and some very bad news. The good news is that whatever your mother did to bind the Staff of One to herself means that it can't outright kill you at the moment without starving itself from a food source. The bad news is that it means your loved ones are in even greater jeopardy. The very bad news is that the staff is seeking to free itself from whatever restriction Tina placed on it to bind it to herself. There is some evidence that the process is already under way; first only Tina could use it, now you can use it too. Read this book and whatever else Wong lends you, in whatever order he tells you to read them. In the meantime, need I remind you to avoid using the staff, especially during situations involving grave danger? And be careful with the books. Wong is very protective of them.”

Wong smiles sweetly and says: “It is my sacred duty. Come with me, I have a list of books for you to read. It is of the utmost importance for you to know and understand what is in these pages.” As he heads away with Nico it tow, he continues, pleasantly: “I know that the Doctor can rub some people the wrong way, but please listen to what he says. He knows what he’s doing.”


	4. Out on the Weekend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karolina and Nico deal with the aftermath of her conversation with Dr. Strange.
> 
> The gang spends a late evening together at the Hostel.

Nico looks sullenly outside the car window. Dinner at the Minoru house had been a as awkward as can be. Nico barely touched the food on her plate and kept quiet. Whatever had happened on the other side had clearly shaken her up, and Karolina and Tina were unsure on how to react or who should take the lead. Immediately after dinner, Tina graciously offered to give Nico and Karolina a ride back to the Hostel: Nico had come back holding a large stack of books and the sheer bulk would have been a pain to carry. Seeing how despondent Nico looked, Karolina took charge and accepted the offer.

They packed up and left immediately. The car ride is uneventful; few words are spoken, and Karolina and Tina occasionally throw worried glances at Nico. Upon arriving, Nico and Karolina go about placing the stack of books into their room and Karolina thanks Tina before she leaves. Tina hugs her and asks her to take good care of Nico. Karolina promises she will. Nico dives right in with the first book on her list: _A Treatise on Magical Artefacts._ Wong had recommended she start with it because she has the Staff of One. Nico quickly finds herself unable to concentrate: for every bit of information she reads, her mind starts wandering about how it relates to her current situation and going through the countless ways in which it could spell doom for her and her group of friends. She closes the book. Clearly, she’s not in the appropriate frame of mind to tackle this.

She goes over to Karolina, seated in the main hall reading one of Gert’s zines. Right now, what Nico needs most of all is comfort. Karolina sets aside what she was doing to devote proper attention to Nico. Nico repeats what Dr Strange has told her about the Staff of One and what it entails. Karolina listens attentively all the way through. When Nico is done, Karolina embraces her and says: “We’ll get through this. Tell me what you need.”

Nico is awed by how brave Karolina is. She sees no fear in Karolina, and somehow, that’s enough to also make her believe that everything will turn out fine. “Right now, I could really use some good news. After what Dr Strange told me, I’m freaking out a bit and the staff feeds on negative emotions, so…”

Karolina thinks for a bit, then says: “Well, I really hit it off with your mother while you were off visiting Dr Strange.”

Nico is immediately intrigued. Normally, how her mother and her girlfriend got along would have been the first thing on her mind after visiting her mother with her girlfriend for the first time, but she had been so out of sorts since coming back from her visit that the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. She gets curious: “Really? What did you two do while I was gone?”

“Well, when you left, we first started off looking at the photographs decorating her place. She started telling me the story behind each picture. She saw that I was especially interested in the pictures with you in them, so she really went into extra detail about those.”

Nico winces humoristically. “I can see where this is going. I hope she didn’t reveal anything too damaging to my pristine reputation.”

“Well, you would have cringed, but I thought that you looked absolutely adorable with pigtails. I also didn’t know you won a ‘most congenial’ award in kindergarten.”

“Okay, I’m starting to think that my mother is evil again. We’re going to have to stop her,” Nico says, completely deadpan.

Karolina laughs. Nico just loves how Karolina just gets her without her having to explain herself, and how she can make even a lousy day good again.

Alex arrives back at the Hostel, dressed in work clothes, and carrying his laptop. He spent the day at his office. On a Saturday. Gert, Chase, and Molly arrive soon after. Nico and Karolina cheerfully greet everyone back.

Nico and Karolina stare at Gert and Chase with questioning eyes. Gert notices but pretends she doesn’t. Chase, remains clueless until, finally, Nico asks in her most gossipy voice: “Sooooooooo, tell us, how was your first date?”

Gert blushes and answers: “It was… nice.” Judging by Gert and Chase’s facial expressions, 'nice' was obviously an understatement. Gert gets suspicious: “Wait, how did you guys know we were going on a date? Did Molly tell you?” Nico’s face is a dead giveaway. Turns out she might be as bad at keeping secrets as Molly.

Molly answers Gert in a way that only she could get away with: “Oh come on, I was so excited. I had to tell someone. Who else was I going to tell?”

Although he’s been a silent observer to all of this, Alex is visibly amused. He finally speaks: “Well I, for one, think it’s about time.” “Hear, hear” Molly, Nico and Karolina say in unison. He continues: “I am, however, curious as to how the asking out part went. I mean, Chase didn’t come and ask for my sage advice, so I can only imagine what it looked like, him having to speak on his own.”

Chase turns beet red. Gert answers “Actually, I thought how Chase asked me out was really sweet.”

Alex responds: “A-ha, so he's the one who asked you out. Fine, you can keep your little secret. But at least give us something. Like, what did you guys end up doing?”

Seeing everyone’s curiosity, Gert relents: “We went to the science center with Molly this afternoon and then Chase and I saw _Modern Times_ together this evening.”

“Yeah, you guys should really see this film,” Chase adds, “it was awesome.”

He then excitedly describes the scene in which the Little Tramp screws bolts on an assembly line and eventually ends up inside the gears of a machine. Gert watches on and enjoys how animated he gets during his narration. Even Molly seems into it, and she is a tough audience to keep interested.

Gert interrupts him: “Chase, I think you’ve done a wonderful job selling them on the film, but I think that it’s one of those films that everyone should see for themselves at least once in their life, so let’s not spoil it for them.”

“Oh, sorry everyone. I guess I got too wrapped up in it, huh?”

Nico answers: “You could say that. You were going so fast that we were all trying to keep up. But the parts of it I could understand sound super interesting. Maybe we could all watch it together next movie night?”

Karolina and Molly agree.

Chase looks at Karolina and Nico, and asks: “How about you two? I think it was your first time going over as a couple to meet one of your parents, right?”

Nico answers: “Whatever Karolina says, don’t believe her. Her and my mother are clearly in league with one another to slander my good name.”

Hearing Karolina sing the praises of Tina, Nico changes her mind: she had initially planned to tell their friends about her meeting with Dr Strange when they came home, but now that they had arrived, and everyone looks so happy she finds that she just can’t go through with it. She was going to throw their lives into chaos again, and she thought that they could at least use one more night of respite before she told them. Or maybe she was the one who needed a respite. Either way made no difference.

* * *

Gert and Chase are cuddling in bed together, each lost in thought, separately reminiscing about the past day in silence. Neither says anything, but each knows that the other is thinking about the past day. Chase breaks the silence.

“You know, I was thinking how _Modern Times_ has humans turn into living machines at the beginning, and how large parts of the exhibit on artificial intelligence were about how we try to get machines to mimic human behaviour, like the Turing test. And it just got me thinking how if humans became more and more machine-like and machines became more and more human like, could we ever reach a point where we have to ask ourselves where’s the line distinguishing us from them.”

“You know what Chase, that hadn’t occurred to me. I think you may be onto something. It does have serious ethical implications.”

“Maybe I’m asking myself this because my mother or some representation of her hits me up on my tablet every once in a while. And when I talk with her, maybe I’m just interacting with something that imitates her so perfectly that even I can’t tell the difference. Or maybe I want it to be real so bad that I’m too willing to fool myself about it.”

“I don’t know, Chase. I think it is your mother, but even if it isn’t, it’s your mother’s final gift to you, so I say enjoy it.”

He looks at her and says: “I know it shouldn’t matter, but I think you’re beautiful.”

She responds: “I know it shouldn’t matter either, but you make me feel beautiful.”

* * *

Alex sits at his computer. He had never planned on becoming a workaholic, but when he’s working, at least his mind isn’t on his problems. Well, technically, things at work are his problems, but at least they seem resolvable. Plus, they’re only his problems because he occupies the position he does: if someone else were to take his place, his problems would become their problems. He looks in the mirror and whispers to himself: “Alex Wilder, what the hell are you doing?”

The evening was as pleasant as it could go, and even by the end of it, he couldn’t wait to get back to his room. It was the outward disconnect between the joy all around him and his inner state. Even when he managed to be momentarily happy, like this evening, it was all too fleeting and made the crash back down all the more devastating. He thinks that maybe he ought to avoid the enjoyment part to avoid the crash, but it seems like a terrible solution.

He puts on his ear buds and listens to Neil Young’s _Out on the Weekend_. He’s been listening to that song a lot recently. The chorus comes on and Alex thinks it perfectly encapsulates his situation:

> See the lonely boy  
>  Out on the weekend  
>  Trying to make it pay  
>  Can't relate to joy  
>  He tries to speak and  
>  Can't begin to say


	5. Tabula Rasa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex reconnects with his family
> 
> Nico announces what Dr Strange told her
> 
> Plus a character makes a return

Alex’s cell phone vibrates. He looks at it. The notification says that it’s another text message from Nico: “Meeting’s about to start. Alex, WHERE ARE YOU??? THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!”

 _Oh, great, just what I need_.

He’s been ignoring Nico’s texts all day. It’s nothing personal, but he just wants to be left alone. He finally looks at the text messages Nico sent him over the course of the day; he sees them in sequence:

9:17 AM: Team meeting this evening at 7:00 PM. Please be there, this is important.

10:34 AM: Hi Alex, could you confirm that you’ll be there this evening?

1:03 PM: Alex, this is SERIOUS. Team meeting in the Hostel dining room this evening. Please be there.

3:27 PM: I don’t want to pester you, Alex. Please, please, please, be there.

6:58 PM: Meeting’s about to start. Alex, WHERE ARE YOU??? THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!

He types a reply: “Didn’t see your texts until just now. Can’t make it. Already had plans elsewhere and I’m there. Fill me in later?”

Everything Alex wrote is technically true, of course. He just omitted the part where he deliberately ignored her text messages for an entire day. He had left early in the morning to go to work, partly to get started early, but mostly to avoid running into anyone at the Hostel.

He finally reaches his destination. Alex walks up to the door and rings the doorbell. He feels somewhat jittery, with it being his first time being invited over for dinner with his boss. At least, that’s what he’s telling himself, because describing it as having dinner with his father as he’d done countless times in the past certainly feels like a ridiculous reason to feel nervous. Tamar opens the door. She smiles and greets him then turns around and announces his arrival. Geoffrey almost runs to the door and gives his son a bear hug. Alex feels a mixture of joy and discomfort.

“Hey Alex! Thank you so much for coming over for dinner.”

Alex sees such hope and happiness in his father’s eyes that he cannot bring himself to disappoint him. His father wants him to be happy, but Alex struggles so much to feel it these days that it feels like an imposition, although he knows that Geoffrey doesn’t mean it that way. Alex tries to put on his best smile. He knows that he’s not that good an actor, so he’s going to need a distraction. “I brought dessert,” Alex says, raising his hand to draw attention to a box he was carrying containing a cake that he’d picked up after work.

Tamar grabs the box. “Let me put that in the fridge for later.”

“Thank you, Tamar”, he says pleasantly, playing along well.

As Alex walks into Tamar’s house and pauses when he reaches the living room. There she is, Livvie, holding Xerxes in her arms and looking as gorgeous as ever.

“I took the liberty of inviting an extra guest,” Tamar says, “I hope you don’t mind.” She says with a sly smile.

“Hi Alex.”

“Hi Livvie,” he says, relieved that etiquette has given him clear instructions on how to respond to Livvie’s greeting, because he has no idea what to say next. All form of coherent thought has been evacuated from his head.

Geoffrey notices and has an amused smile. Tamar gives him a nudge so he doesn’t stare so openly at the scene playing out before him.

“It’s been a while,” Livvie says, trying to keep the conversation going.

“Yeah, it has.”

An awkward pause lingers. Alex kicks himself for his last response. He wishes he could take it back and have a do-over. Luckily, Livvie picks up the conversation again.

“So, what have you been up to?”

“This and that. How have you been?”

Although Alex really is interested in what Livvie’s been up to, his primary motivation is getting the spotlight off himself. If he manages the situation right and keeps Livvie talking about herself, he won’t have to face too many awkward questions about where he was for six months. Part of him is amused by imagining everyone’s stunned consternation and discomfort to him giving an alternative response: _Yeah, after you left, I was host to an alien that took over my body and controlled my actions as I watched helplessly, my mother was murdered in prison and I helped put her there, I was then trapped in an another hellish dimension where I was beaten and tortured every day for six months, my only source of comfort was a vision of a mother, whom I was encouraged to kill, and which I ultimately was forced to stab to death to save my friends, how have you been?_ He’s sure that Livvie already knows about his mother’s murder and that it’s not unlikely that Tamar has told her about the whole alien thing although he’s not sure about that, but he’s not eager to share, least of all over a dinner also attended by other people.

“I’m doing well, thanks. I heard that you started working with your dad over at Wilder Innovators.”

“Yeah, it’s been great. I’ve been working on a lot of interesting projects.”

“C’mon son, don’t be modest, tell her what you’re working on,” says Geoffrey.

Tamar sucks her teeth audibly in reaction to Geoffrey’s last intervention to express her displeasure with his intrusion into Livvie and Alex’s conversation, but he’s so happy that he doesn’t care. Alex and Livvie both chuckle. As awkward as it was, the amusement caused by the combination of Geoffrey’s intervention and Tamar’s reaction turns into the icebreaker Alex and Livvie needed. Alex eases up and says: “Well, right now, the main project I’m working on is developing applications for neural network technologies.”

“Neural as in brain cells?”

“Kind of, but not really. It’s more using computers to roughly mimic what brains cells do. One of the key aspects of the human brain is its ability to learn things. The work of a guy named Donald Hebb helped give us an idea of the basis on which the brain learns new things. Neuroscience has advanced a lot since then. The work I do with my team imitates these processes to teach computer programs to do various tasks.”

“That’s seriously impressive. Does it ever make you worried, you know, smart machines and all?”

“We’re not even close to being there yet. If you mean a _Terminator_ type of scenario, there’s right now just no way that could happen. The programs are just far too simplistic and just learn to do pretty simple tasks, like telling apart images of MRI scans to detect the presence or absence of something like cancer. It’s also super limited in the type of information to which it has access: the only thing our networks have access to is what we want it to have access to.”

“Okay, and this type of technology is meant to eventually replace workers on some tasks, right? What about workers who depend on those jobs to earn a living?”

“It’s not meant to replace workers, it’s meant to replace the menial, repetitive part of their job and give them more free time to do more worthwhile things. Like attending family dinners trying to impress pretty girls.”

Livvie can’t repress a smile. She answers: “I’m not super convinced.”

Alex slyly replies: “By what? That you’re pretty?”

She chuckles softly, and confesses: “I missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

“I know that times have been tough for you since we broke up. I was thinking that maybe we could pick up where we left off?”

“I’d like that, but the past is the past. How about a clean slate?”

* * *

Gert, Chase, and Molly are waiting at the dining table making small talk and speculating about the reason for the team meeting that Nico has called, the first one since the night they defeated Morgan Le Fay. Karolina and Nico arrive together. The light and breezy atmosphere that prevailed in the dining room before Nico and Karolina’s arrival ends when Gert, Molly, and Chase notice their serious expressions. “We’ll wait for Alex,” Nico announces before taking out her phone and texting. Soon after, the notification alert on Nico’s cell phone goes off. She quickly checks it out and looks extremely displeased.

“Well, I just got a text message from Alex telling me that he won’t be able to join us this evening, but this can’t wait, so I guess we’ll just have to do this without him, and I’ll inform him later about our discussion. Okay everyone, you may be wondering why I called this team meeting. You all know me; I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t important. I saw a master of the mystic arts yesterday to start honing my abilities. He informed me about the history of the Staff of One. I’ve already told Karolina, but the rest of you should know it because it also concerns you.”

Unsure how to announce such bad news, Nico starts fumbling around with her words, until Molly intervenes: “It’s okay Nico, we’re all family here. You can tell us anything.”

“Thanks, Molly,” a heartened Nico responds. “So, here’s what he told me about the Staff of One. It’s actually a parasitic mystical entity of some kind that was forged into a weapon. The way the parasite works is by feeding on the intense negative emotions of the staff wielder, like rage, grief, terror, and despair.”

Chase interjects: “Yeah, but you’re happy now, right? I mean, I look at you and Karolina and you both seem so happy.”

Nico looks at Karolina, who blushes, and can’t repress a faint smile before continuing “Thanks Chase, you’re right, but that’s not the point. The point is that in order to feed, the staff will attract danger to myself and those I care about in order to get me to feel all these emotions. And every time I use the staff for us to win, it grows stronger, allowing me to cast more powerful spell, which allows the staff to attract more serious dangers.”

Before Nico has time to gauge the room’s reaction to the news she just delivered, Gert snaps: “Okay, we get it. I knew it couldn’t last. All that trouble, and we’re right back to square one. So, what’s the plan?” Clearly, she is not taking this well.

“Well, right now, for me, it involves starving the staff off me and my emotions, and weaning myself off the staff too, I suppose. Doctor Strange says that I have to learn to do magic and cast spells without the staff, which, given that I’ve been using the staff this whole time, means that I have to start back from pretty much scratch.”

Gert crosses her arms and scrunches up her face in reaction to Nico’s news. Chase notices and tentatively speaks: “Well… Coach Alphona used to say _sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward_.”

Gert glares at him and responds: “Okay, but if danger comes knocking in the meantime, what are we supposed to do? Throws clichés at it?” Upon seeing the hurt expression on Chase’s face, Gert immediately regrets her choice of words. She apologizes sincerely: “I’m sorry Chase, I shouldn’t have said that. What I mean is, Nico’s the most powerful one of us. And now Nico says that she’s not going to be able to cast spells for how long exactly?”

“I don’t know, I might be able to do basic beginner spells fairly rapidly, but the more advanced stuff is probably going to take a while.” Nico admits.

“Right,” Gert answers, “and with Nico out of commission, what if something we can’t handle comes our way between now and then, whenever that is, if it ever happens?”

Karolina steps in and speaks in an irritated tone that barely manages to be civil: “We will prepare, Gert. Nico will train. Molly’s already training with Chase. I’ll set aside some time each day to practice using my powers so that I’m prepared for danger when it comes. Chase can start working on the fistigons again and practice using them. You have a psychic link to a deinonychus, Gert. Are you telling me you’re powerless? You know, I didn’t think the damsel in distress role was part of your repertoire.”

Chase and Molly look at each other: there’s no way that Gert will take being spoken to this way lying down, so one of them will have to defuse the situation.

Molly speaks first: “Yeah, plus as we were saying, we’ll keep in touch regularly to let each other know that we’re safe and help one another too if we need it. Plus, it’s Nico we’re talking about. She always comes through.”

“Thanks, Molly,” Nico says, unsure whether to be flattered by the vote of confidence or to feel additional pressure.

Chase adds: “Yeah, plus if things get too dicey, I’m sure that our parents would be willing to lend a hand.”

Chase’s suggestion prompts Gert to give him a disapproving look. She inhales deeply and exhales slowly. “Look, I really appreciate what you’re all trying to do. I’m just having a bit of a panic attack right now. Last time something like this happened, Chase died in my arms and we came this close to an apocalyptic event. Who’s to say that something like that or worse won’t happen this time?”

Chase opens his mouth to respond that he didn’t die, but thinks better of it when he sees the _don’t you dare_ glare that Gert is giving him in anticipation. He wisely reconsiders and opts to keep quiet.

Karolina responds, this time far more compassionately: “I know, Gert. I can’t promise you anything. I don’t like this any more than you do. Believe me, I’d prefer for us not to be in this situation either, but we are. We don’t control the situation with the staff, and no one here caused it. All we can do is focus on the things that we can control and do what we can about those. It might not be enough, but then again, we just might get by. I mean, Doctor Strange himself said that intense negative emotions will only feed this thing, so maybe Nico could use some support too?”

Chase speaks in a hushed tone so only Gert will hear: “I will support you, Gert.” Gert knows that Chase can’t prevent everything, but knowing that he’ll be there for her provides her with more reassurance than she knows is rational. She pecks him on the cheek and says: “Thank you. That's really sweet and it really means a lot to me. I’m just afraid that it might not be enough for whatever comes our way.”

* * *

The young man wakes up alone in his apartment. He joylessly goes about his morning routine. As he’s shaving, he looks at his reflection in the mirror and asks himself _who is this guy_? Like every other morning, the answer is not forthcoming. He knows it’s his face: he sees it every time he looks at himself in the mirror. And yet, it still feels foreign, like it’s someone else’s face somehow.

It’s been like that every day since that night. He’s tried so hard to remember, but his most distant memory is talking with an attractive brunette wearing a red dress at one of those corporate parties at Wizard for Corvus phones. It was as if he woke up in the middle of a conversation, utterly confused. She greeted him, he asked her who she was. The smug smile on her face as she told him that the bigger question was who he was, clearly enjoying the satisfaction of toying with him and the casual cruelty with which she said she was sorry that he’d spend the rest of his life trying to figure it out meant that she knew and was likely complicit if not directly responsible for wiping his mind.

He left he party that night with no idea where to go or who he was, obsessed by the question she had planted into him. Thankfully, he had ID on him with his name and address and enough money for a cab. When he got home, he had to try several keys in his keychain before finally finding the one that opened the door to his apartment. He walked in and didn’t recognize the place.

He’d spent a good chunk of time since then trying to track down the brunette in a red dress. He thought maybe she’d know enough about his past life to help him piece his current one back together. He knew full well that it would be highly unlikely that she’d be willing to help him, but it was worth the shot: she was his only living lead to his past life. In the process, he had managed to discover that he’d been working as an intern handing out Corvus phones for Wizard. Even if she had been willing to collaborate, his search had hit a dead end when her corpse turned up, stabbed. _She probably messed with the wrong person_ , he thought when he learned.

Thankfully, he hadn’t password protected his computer. He had pored over his files and browsing history, desperately searching for any clue as to who he might be. Turns out, he’d been a university student in his past life, right before losing his identity. He doesn’t even know if he wants to pursue that anymore. Even if he wanted to, would he be able to pass any of the classes in his program? The lady from the university he’d spoken to had been kind enough to grant him a student leave. She said that he needed time to figure himself out, but would time be enough? The brunette in a red dress seemed supremely confident that he’d spend the rest of his days wandering aimlessly.

His loss of self has left him rudderless, adrift in a sea of endless questions. He goes through what his research into his past had turned up: he _was_ Max Fletcher; no living relative; undergraduate university student at USC in health and humanities. All items on this short list, disparate, fragmentary threads hinting at something greater that was maddeningly out of his reach, only raising more questions, like an ever-receding horizon. Worse yet, nothing he knows feels real: he was a student prior to losing his memory, but has no memories of attending class, classmates, school friends, school related social events, or anything like that. He has no memory of his parents, childhood, growing up, or losing his parents. Everything he learned about himself seems like inert text on a page, as if he were reading the biography of a completely unknown stranger. Even his name seems completely devoid of meaning: as far as he’s concerned, he doesn’t feel like a Max. Or a Fletcher for that matter. Even the sense of belonging that comes from living a lifetime in one’s name was gone.

To soothe himself, he recites his favourite poem, one that he had come to strongly identify with to hold onto hope:

> Out of the night that covers me,  
>  Black as the pit from pole to pole,  
> I thank whatever gods may be  
>  For my unconquerable soul.
> 
> In the fell clutch of circumstance  
>  I have not winced nor cried aloud.  
> Under the bludgeonings of chance  
>  My head is bloody, but unbowed.
> 
> Beyond this place of wrath and tears  
>  Looms but the Horror of the shade,  
> And yet the menace of the years  
>  Finds and shall find me unafraid.
> 
> It matters not how strait the gate,  
>  How charged with punishments the scroll,  
> I am the master of my fate,  
>  I am the captain of my soul.


	6. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moly, Nico, and Karolina run into Max
> 
> Gert and Chase's day of studying
> 
> An eventful day in Alex's worklife
> 
> Nico informs Alex about the staff

Nico, Karolina, and Molly had stepped out in the early afternoon to make a quick run to get necessary supplies. Nico had originally intended to speak to Alex in the morning, but he had ducked out early to go to work. She had spent the rest of the morning reading and practicing and needed a break when Karolina invited her to come along.

Chase had stayed back at the Hostel to brush up on his calculus: he had applied to an engineering program and given how he hadn’t been the most dedicated student in his previous academic life, he felt more than a little insecure that his abilities would not be up to snuff. Gert had opted to stay with him allegedly to tutor him. Nico, Karolina, and Molly laughed at how obvious Gert was as they left. Nico quipped thar Chase might just be oblivious enough not to notice the obvious.

As they stop at a food court to get something for Mollly who’s complaining that she’s staaaaarving, they spot a young man mopping the floor. Molly and Karolina do a double take. Molly turns to Karolina and asks: “Is that… Max?”

“Uh…. yeah, I think so… I’m not sure.”

It definitely looks like him, but he looks a little emaciated compared to the young man that they had previously encountered. The person they had briefly met exuded enthusiasm and contentedness, but this one looks haunted and shows clear signs of exhaustion: he moves about unenergetically, he has visible bags under his eyes, his eyes lack that flicker of life in them, and has tired lines on his face. He is clearly just going through the motions of living.

Nico asks: “Who’s Max again?”

Karolina answers: “That’s the guy Gert was flirting with before she got back with Chase.”

Nico looks confused: “That’s the guy Gert was flirting with?” She is clearly surprised that such a pathetic looking creature would ever elicit attraction rather than pity.

Molly and Karolina look just as confused as Nico. “Yeah,” says Karolina, “except he wasn’t like that at all when we met him with Gert.”

The contrast between the young man unenthusiastically just going about his job in front of them and the lively person they had met a few months ago is disturbingly stark, almost as if he was a completely different person.

Molly asks: “Uh, do you think we should say ‘hi’ to him?”

Normally, the answer would be so obviously ‘yes’ that it wouldn’t be worth asking. But this time, Molly and Karolina look at each other with hesitation. Nico opts to stay out of the decision. After thinking it over, Karolina responds with an unsure nod.

They walk up to him and Molly says: “Hi Max!”

Although he is clearly within hearing distance and Molly spoke loud enough to be heard, he goes about his business as if what she said didn’t register. Seeing his lack of response, Molly gets a little closer and reiterates a little louder: “Hi Max!”

He finally snaps out the brooding he was engaged in. The tedium of his job sadly left far too much time for his thoughts to wander, and with the state of mind he was in, it never took long for them to wander back to the endless questions without answers that he obsessed over daily. He answers: “Oh, uh, hi?”

He looks at them quizzically, not knowing what to say. He focuses his gaze on Molly and Karolina. He gets an exasperating feeling, an amorphous sense of recognition, like having a word on the tip of the tongue but never being quite able to find it. As hard as he tries, the answer always seems just barely out of his reach. His frustration at the futility of his efforts and feeling achingly close to remembering them is plain to see.

He asks: “Ummm, do I know you?”

“Max?”

“Uh… yeah?”

“Ummm, we met once, about two and a half months ago. We were waiting in line at a restaurant and you were handing out those free Corvus cell phones. You went out with my sister Gert once.”

He spends several seconds trying to remember. His supervisor, a surly woman with a nasty disposition and a booming voice comes by: “Fletcher, I don’t pay you to flirt with the customers!”

Looking dejected, he responds to Molly: “Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell.”

* * *

Chase completes a calculus exam Gert had printed up for him. She takes his copy from the desk and looks over his answers. 

She does her best seductive teacher impression as she says: "20 out of 20, perfect score."

She pushes Chase's chair back, climbs on top of him and says: "My oh my, how shall I reward you?"

Chase answers with a big smile on his face and a mock innocent voice: "I wouldn't know, ma'am, my girlfriend says that sex isn't earned like something you purchase and that good deeds do not makes one entitled to sex. A woman isn't a machine in which you spend good deeds and sex comes out."

Gerts laughs so hard she nearly falls off the chair until Chase catches her.

* * *

Alex struggles to stay awake at his desk. He had come in early that Monday morning because he didn’t want to have to deal with an irate Nico giving him attitude first thing in the morning back at the Hostel. His morning had been mostly occupied with team meetings to discuss the progression of various projects. He was finishing up the first project he had been involved in since he had started working at Wilder Innovators. He had initially started with fairly easy and straightforward projects to ease himself in and not be overwhelmed with novelty. Other employees ribbed him from time to time for being the boss’ son, but he was such a natural at planning and strategizing that he had quickly earned their respect and the initial ribbing had transformed into good natured teasing.

When he entered his office after lunch, a large pile of project proposals was waiting for him, stacked on his desk. He was tasked with reading them and evaluating their suitability for Wilder Innovators to pursue. And now, there he is, dozing off despite his best intentions, trying to read project proposals: not only had he left the Hostel early that morning, but he had also come home late from dinner with his father the night before, further shortening his night of sleep. It doesn’t help that he doesn’t find the projects interesting: most fail to be truly innovative and settle for low hanging fruit, like combining already existing technologies or proposing slight technological increments. Despite the grandiose sales language, while some projects are worth pursuing due to their low risk nature and the fact that they have a high probability of reward, he finds that they lack ambition: whatever new tech would come out and revolutionize the world, it wouldn’t be from the projects that he has looked at thus far. Feeling drowsy and no longer able to concentrate, he gets up and walks to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee.

As he gets back to his desk, he grabs the file from the top of the stack. As uninterested as he had been about the project proposals that he had previously read this afternoon, his attention is suddenly brought into sharp focus by the project name: Mancha. He nearly spits out the sip of coffee he had just taken in surprise. He spends the next several minutes pondering what to do. _Am I really supposed to keep it secret? Should I keep it a secret? If so, how would I keep it a secret?_ Each passing minute in these reflections, he grows more worried that someone might walk into his office and ask about the file in front of him. Unsure what to do, he closes the folder and stuffs it in his bag as rapidly as he can and skips to the next proposal on his pile.

* * *

Alex leaves work with the folder containing the file for project Mancha. All the way back to the Hostel, he gets paranoid that someone might take his bag with the file in it. He is so concerned with the file that he is completely startled when Nico talks to him when he gets back. She had been waiting for his return that evening. Alex suddenly remembers that she almost certainly wanted to discuss the matters over which she had called a meeting the evening before. Alex is surprised by how calm she is. He had expected her to be so angry at him for avoiding her that steam would be coming out of her ears.

“Alex, we need to talk.”

Alex feels his tension rising. He doesn’t want to have this conversation. Something inside him just screams at him to get out of there. At the same time, refusing to have it will only exacerbate the situation and draw further attention to himself. Everyone is already so uncomfortable around him and it would just make it worse. He decides to play the nonchalant card.

“Yeah, sorry about missing the team meeting yesterday.”

“It’s fine, but it’s really important for you to know what it was about and what was said in it.”

“Okay.”

“The Staff of One is actually a parasite that feeds on the negative emotions of the person wielding it, in the present case me. In order to elicit these emotions within me, it will draw danger to myself and those I care about. If I cast a spell using the staff to fend off the danger, the staff grows stronger and the next threat become more serious. You can see where this is going.”

Alex lets out an exasperated sigh, before saying: “So, what’s the plan?”

“Everyone needs to up their game to be ready for when the next danger comes. I need to learn how to cast spells without using the staff to deprive the staff of me and my emotions, and eventually starve it out. The Staff of One is still bound to my blood for now, but it seems like it’s seeking to free itself. I have to be able to starve it out before it’s able to free itself.”

Alex quietly feels a sudden cold, murderous impulse pass through him at the mention of starving out the Staff of One. _Not yet_ , he hears a seductive and threatening voice whisper inside his head. He notices Nico looking at him. _Is she suspicious of me?_

Alex speaks: “And what am I supposed to do? I mean, great for everyone else, they all have their thing. What do I have?”

“You have a big brain, hacking skills, and you’ve got all of us. We’ll all communicate and be there, ready to support one another when needed.”

“Gert and Chase applied to go to school in Massachusetts. How are they supposed to help us and how are we supposed to help them from all the way across the continental US?”

“I don’t KNOW, Alex! All I know right now is that I can’t let myself be scared and that it’s taking everything I have not to freak out right now because frankly, I’m terrified.”

Alex feels dual urges. One wants to reassure Nico and the other resents her. He deliberates long and hard before answering.

“Nico, I’m sorry. I know this must be hard for you. I’ll help any way I can. We’ll make it through this.”

Nico breathes a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Alex,” she says, hugging him.

Nico switches topic: “So, if you weren’t at the team meeting, where were you yesterday?”

Alex relaxes. “I was having dinner with my father over at Tamar’s. Livvie was there too.”

Nico’s smiles and her eyes grow wider. “Oh. How did that go?”

Alex can’t help but smile a little: “It was completely awkward at first, but once we broke the ice, it was fine. Livvie and I are going on a date next week.”

“That’s great. Although I hope it doesn’t mean that we’ll see even less of you.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I’ve just been dealing with a lot of stuff since coming back from the Dark Dimension. Sometimes, I just want to be left alone.”

“You need your space. I get that. We all get it. It’s just… you don’t have to go through this alone, you know?”

“I know. Thanks, but it’s really not necessary. I’m fine. I’m getting back in the swing of things at work. I’ll be taking classes at UCLA this fall. I just need to get all this behind me. Trust me, I’m fine.”

Nico knows something is off about Alex, but she doesn’t know how to press on without seeming overbearing. _If only Karolina were here to have this conversation instead of me_ , she thinks. _She always seems to know what to say_.

“Okay, but if you ever need someone to talk to, you know that I’m always there.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind,” he says while walking to his room.

He closes the door and breathes a sigh of relief. As quietly as he can, he takes the folder out of his bag and looks over the proposal for Project Mancha that he took home from the office. He finds out that it’s an acronym for Multilayered Adaptive Neuronets Copying Human Activity. It’s an incredibly ambitious project, the type that comes once in a lifetime if one is lucky. The objective of it is to create neural networks using nanite biotransistors, and modulated electrical conductivity to seamlessly replace and take over for damaged brain areas following brain injuries such as strokes or carbon monoxide poisoning. At first, it looks like the stuff out of science-fiction novels. Except that whoever wrote this thing clearly laid out all the steps to make it happen, and Alex comes to the realization that this is feasible. _How am I supposed to hide a project of that magnitude_? Under the best of circumstances, the research and development on this thing could take years of trial and error. He thinks of the Abstract and wonders _can I still read this thing_? _I’m sure that a lot of answers to the trial and error part will go a lot faster if I use the Abstract to get rid of the error part_. But still, even if he does, it’s still an incredibly ambitious project, and that draws a lot of attention. He ponders and tells himself that a project this ambitious can be broken down into a collection of smaller less ambitious seeming projects. Thinking about it, off the top of his head, he can break it down into several smaller projects that would not, individually, draw too much attention to themselves: a project on circuit miniaturization, another on development of modulated conduction technology, one on the development of electronics designed to go safely into the human body. He would need to develop that idea further, but these projects were all less attention grabbing. _Everyone will be working on their smaller part and only I will have the big picture_. He pauses, thinking of a glitch in his plan. There was already at least one person who knew about the project: whoever wrote this thing. He goes back at the front page: Cassandra Alabi.


	7. The Cruel Tutelage of Doctor Strange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex meets the writer of project Mancha
> 
> Dinnertime conversations 
> 
> Nico's first lesson with Doctor Strange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many have coveted the Staff of One. Few ever touched it. Most died rapidly after wielding it. Those who didn’t wished they had. None ever owned it.
> 
> _-A Treatise on Magical Artefacts, p. 482._

Alex had asked his assistant to convoke Cassandra Alabi for a head to head meeting first thing when he came in the next day. Alex occupies himself during the day, but he has difficulty concentrating on anything but meeting the person who wrote Project Mancha. He had stopped by human resources to see the information they had on her. He had pored over her file, but nothing unusual popped out. Like several of their employees, she was a transfer from Wizard. The receptionist enters Alex’s office in the mid afternoon to announce Cassandra Alabi’s arrival. “Send her in. And please make sure nobody disturbs us during this meeting.” The receptionist acquiesces. A generically attractive young woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail enters his office. With her glasses, modest clothes, absence of makeup, and generally demure body language, she looks like a mousy librarian, although Alex can tell that she has hair that probably belongs in a shampoo commercial.

“Hi, I’m Alex. I believe you’re new here,” he says reaching out for a handshake.

“Hi, I’m Cassandra. I’m an engineer. I transferred here from Wizard, your partner company.” she says, unassuredly reaching out her hand to return the handshake.

“Yes, I looked at your file before we met. Nice to meet you Cassandra, I hope that you like everything so far.”

She is noticeably nervous: “I do. Everyone’s been so nice and helpful.”

“That’s good! Well, I hope that you’ll keep feeling that way working here over the years,” he says, as if he weren’t also a newcomer.

“Thank you so much,” she responds with genuine surprise.

He takes the folder for project Mancha out of his bag. “I wanted to see you because of your project proposal. It’s really quite impressive. Exactly the kind of thing Wilder Innovators is all about.”

“Thank you.”

“I’d like to do it, but your project will need some modifications. I’ll be glad to make them.”

“What kind of modifications,” she asks apprehensively.

“Oh, don’t worry, I intend to do every part of it pretty much as you saw it. But a project that big can take years and tends to encounter resistance along the way. I think breaking up your project into multiple smaller projects would be better advised to keep people from thinking we lost our minds. Bonus: we could be doing all these projects in parallel, so it would go faster too.”

She seems a little reluctant. “I guess that makes sense. But if these are all smaller projects, how will anyone know about the big picture of making a technology to help those with brain injuries?”

Alex smiles. “We’ll do that thing last, when all the other pieces have been developed, we’ll submit another project to bring them all together.”

“That seems wise,” she says uncertainly.

Alex gets an odd feeling of familiarity.

“I know this is going to sound like a come on, but it’s really not. I have the odd feeling that I’ve seen you before.”

Cassandra tenses up visibly at Alex’s question.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.”

“No need to ‘sir’ me, Alex will do fine.”

He looks at her face intently, trying to place her. Suddenly, it dawns on him. He’s so surprised that his realization slips out.

“You were part of Morgan’s coven. You were there the night that we defeated her.”

She looks utterly terrified. “Please don’t hurt me!”

Alex is shocked; he didn’t expect her to have that reaction at all. The young woman that he’d met back at the Hostel was a stone-cold killer who dressed provocatively and relished the attention. The woman sitting before him is a nervous and meek wallflower.

“Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She looks confused.

“Please don’t fire me! I need this job.”

“I’m not going to fire you either, but I want some explanations. Let’s talk.”

She is hyperventilating. Alex gives her the time she needs to calm back down. He takes advantage of the pause to think of questions. When he sees that she’s finally calmed down enough, he asks her: “How did you start working with Morgan?”

“It started from the first day I saw her, when Robert Minoru introduced her to the team over at Wizard. I instantly idolized her. She was everything I wished to be but wasn’t: strong, confident, had her act together, walked in like she owned the place. The day she noticed me and deigned talk to me, I thought it was the best day of my life. I barely slept that night; I was so excited. I wanted to be like her, to please her. She told me that she saw something special in me, that she would help me discover that side of myself, that she would free me to be myself. I didn’t even know I had magical powers until she gave me a book of spells and taught me. I desperately wanted her approval, so I went along with whatever she told me. I knew it was wrong and I understood that she was using me, but I was so far gone that I didn’t care anymore. Everyday, I became more like her and less like myself. I never liked myself in the first place, so I offered no resistance. In fact, I embraced it willingly.”

“How did you end up working here?”

“After Morgan was defeated that night, I snuck out while everyone on your side was busy celebrating. It wasn’t easy: your friend gave me a concussion, a dislocated shoulder and three broken ribs when he blasted me with his gloves.” She pauses and looks at Alex directly in the eyes. “But at least I got off easier than Bronwyn.”

It takes a few seconds for Alex to realize that she’s talking about the witch that he killed. When he does, he feels a slight discomfort.

Cassandra continues: “I was strangely fortunate. Tina came back as head of Wizard and started getting rid of everyone on Morgan’s crew. I was on sick leave due to my injuries, so I went unnoticed, but I knew that if I went back there, my days as an employee there would be numbered. I applied for a transfer here and here I am.”

“So, how did you think of project Mancha?”

“It came to me during my convalescence. Morgan’s enchantment on me hadn’t faded out yet and I was still trying to reach out to her one evening with no success. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came through me. I grabbed my laptop and started typing down the project proposal you saw. I’d never had that before: I worked at a frantic pace through the night and the next day, never needing to pause because I didn’t feel any fatigue or hunger or thirst. I wrote it in one sitting. I swear, I didn’t hit backspace once while I was typing this thing. I didn’t even need to double check or anything, even though I did multiple times afterwards. Everything was perfect: no typos, no grammatical errors, the equations were spot on, the graphs and figure too.”

Alex takes everything Cassandra just told him in. He finally speaks: “Well now, this project is definitely better to stay our little secret then, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes,” she says unassuredly.

He opens the door to his office: “Thank you very much Cassandra, that was really good work.”

She leaves his office. He closes the door behind her and starts cogitating.

* * *

It’s dinner time at the Hostel. Only Nico is absent due to having to meet Doctor Strange for her first lesson. Everyone in attendance is in a good mood, even Alex. Despite the menace of the curse of the Staff of One weighing heavily against them, their mutual love and trust in one another serves as a strong rampart against the despair that they might otherwise feel if they were alone.

“Oh, did I tell you guys who we ran into yesterday while we were out running errands?” Molly says looking at Gert and Chase. She eagerly answers her own question before anyone has had the chance to say anything: “Max.”

“Who’s Max,” Alex asks.

“Oh, it’s not important. He’s just some guy I met and briefly dated while you were trapped in the Dark Dimension. Nothing serious,” a clearly uncomfortable Gert answers in the hopes that the discussion will move onto another, less awkward, topic.

Molly sees to it that her attempt to deflect the topic of conversation fails: “Just some guy? You were so flirty with him.” Karolina piles on the teasing: “Yeah, wasn’t he, like, your boyfriend?”

Gert and Chase simultaneously protest that he wasn’t her boyfriend.

Clearly, this hit a nerve. Alex, ever the diplomat, asks “Okay, so who was he anyways?”

It’s become clear that the fastest way the conversation will move on is for Gert to give some explanation, so she exhales and yields. “He was a guy I met one day while going for breakfast with Chase, Karolina, and Molly. He was working for Wizard handing out those free Corvus cell phones. He and I hit it off over a podcast that we both liked. I went out with him once, to a launch party for Corvus phones. Can we move on now?”

Molly continues relating what happened the day before: “Yeah, anyways, it was weird. Like, I went up to him and said ‘hi’ and he looked at me like he didn’t even know who I was.” She focuses her gaze on Gert and continues: “I even mentioned you by name and he still had no idea.”

“Maybe it wasn’t him?” Gert asks.

Karolina replies: “Oh, he’s changed, but it was definitely him. It wasn’t just the physical resemblance, he had the same voice, the same accent, and the same mannerisms too.”

“How did he change,” Gert asks.

“Well, I don’t know what happened since you last saw him, but clearly, he’s had a rough time,” Karolina responds.

“And where did you meet him?”

Molly answers: “At the food court in the mall near the thrift shop. He was mopping the floors there. I talked to him a bit before his hateful manager cut in and told him to get back to work.”

“I think I’d like to go see him. He looks like he needs help,” Gert says.

“Could I come along,” asks Chase while looking at Gert. She gives him that puzzled look she had when she wanted him to explain himself. Chase continues, looking a little embarrassed: “Uh, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression, I’m not keeping tabs on you or anything. It’s just… I didn’t act right with him the last time I saw him, and he actually seemed like a really solid guy, but I didn’t want to admit it back then. How I behaved towards him never sat right with me and I’d like to apologize to him for acting that way.”

Gert notices the earnest look on Chase’s face as he explains himself. _He’s so sweet,_ Gert thinks. She kisses him on the cheek and says: “Of course you can come along.”

Karolina and Alex roll their eyes as Molly happily looks on. The only missing thing to make her life complete right now would be a large bowl of popcorn to eat while watching the scene play out in front of her.

* * *

Before the lesson started, Doctor Strange had let Nico know that she ought to be grateful that he was taking time off his busy schedule to teach her.

“So, what have you read so far?”

“Uh, I’m about halfway through _A Treatise on Magical Artefacts_.”

Doctor Strange pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index as he closes his eyes. He can feel a headache coming on.

“And how many spells do you know?”

“Ummmm, I always kinda focussed on what I wanted, and fed the staff as I let it do its thing and I issued commands.”

“Oh dear,” Doctor Strange says, this time full on facepalming.

Nico can’t accept this: “Well, come on, I know it’s obvious I need help. You don’t have to be that way about it.”

“I swear,” says Doctor Strange, not even bothering to look at Nico, “the way magical power is handed out these days, it’s like someone gave the keys to a sports car to a sixteen-year-old boy with a need for speed.”

“Hey, I’m right here,” Nico protests.

“Ms. Minoru, do you realize that I’m constantly on guard to protect earth from countless threats? I’ve had to fight and defeat Baron Mordo numerous times. Do you know how many times I've stopped Dormammu?”

“What’s a dormammu,” Nico asks, unsure what to think.

“What’s a dormammu,” Doctor Strange repeats in disbelief, “Oh, the indignities I suffer. Years of medical training. Working my way to the top of the extremely demanding profession of neurosurgeon. Losing use of my hands in a debilitating accident. Years mastering the mystic arts. Rising to the rank of Sorcerer Supreme. Saving the world from innumerable mystical threats. And now my role as, what, mentor to a Joannie come lately with a spunky attitude reduces me to being an exposition dump in the play that is Nico Minoru’s life. I daresay that my life is complete; I’m living the dream, Ms. Minoru, all thanks to you. Oh, how I suffer for my craft.”

“Listen, either you help me or you don’t. I have problems, I’m in over my head, I realize that. But if you don’t help me, you’ll have some part of responsibility in whatever happens.”

Doctor Strange relents: “Very well, and what have you done to prepare?”

“I told the five other kids I live with about the staff. Everyone’s been informed. We’re all going to prepare. They’re not defenseless. Alex is a talented computer hacker and excels at strategies and tactics. Molly has superhuman strength and she’s really tough. Karolina is part alien: she can fly and can manipulate light. Gert is psychically linked to a dinosaur. Chase is an engineering wiz kid: he has these gauntlets that he thinks are supercool that he calls fistigons,” Nico says while rolling her eyes in embarrassment, “with them he can project force beams and laser beams. And I’m going to train.”

Doctor Strange thinks long and hard. “There probably won’t be enough time for you to learn every spell you'll need to learn to be prepared. I can think of a way around that. Maybe if we could get ahead of this and anticipate where the danger is coming from you might be able to learn which spell you need to know to counter it and then learn that specific spell. What you need is information. Tell me everything relevant to the staff that occurred, starting with most recent events. The seeds of the current danger should be sown in the last one.”

“Well, the five kids I live with and our parents were there the night we defeated Morgan. My mother gave up years of her life to enchant salt that was used to form a circle around Morgan to contain her power. A Chase from the future closed the circle. My mother sent her back to the Dark Dimension. Future Chase died and disappeared. Another version of Alex also disappeared.”

“How did Morgan manage to leave the Dark Dimension?”

“I cast a spell called _Tenebrae_.”

“ _Tenebrae?_ You ended up in the Dark Dimension.”

“I ended up in the Dark Dimension with my five friends and three of our parents: Chase’s father; Gert and Molly’s mother; and my mother. Morgan traded places with us and ended up here. By the time we’d come back, six months had gone by in this world.”

“How much do you know about your companions’ time in the Dark Dimension?”

“Not a whole lot. First time, we all got separated before we found our way to each other again. Uh, Alex got caught there and we went back a second time to get him.”

“You went back for him? What happened?”

“We broke into a prison where he was being kept to free him. That time, it was me, Karolina, Gert, and Chase, plus two others: Tyrone and Tandy. We got separated again, this time Gert, Tyrone and Chase on one side, myself, Karolina and Tandy on the other. I fought and defeated a magician that had been killed and reanimated. I killed him with one of Tandy’s light dagger infused with my darkness. After his defeat, all the prison guards vanished into thin air. We then ran into Alex and we all went home.” Nico pauses and remembers: “Tandy has the power to reveal people’s hopes with her touch. She touched Alex’s hand when we all held hands to get back home. She said that whatever she saw in Alex’s hopes wasn’t good.”

“And you still brought him back?”

“We went there to get him, so we weren’t going to leave without him. We don’t do that. Plus, we were all already home anyways by the time she warned us. We weren’t going to go back there, we barely managed to get out.”

Doctor Strange takes a deep breath. “Fine. How did you know that the magician was killed and reanimated?”

“Uh, we met him during our first visit. He was still alive when he helped us break into the prison during our second visit. Then he later showed up, pole stuck through his chest.”

“I take it the prison guards that were there before the magician was killed and reanimated.”

“Yes.”

“I see. Well, whoever was responsible for the guard’s presence wasn’t the reanimated magician: their existence preceded his first death, so therefore your giving him a more… permanent death can’t be what made them disappear. Something else happened. Who was with you at the time the guards vanished?”

“Uh, everyone except Alex.”

“Your friend Alex is under a curse. Even he may not be aware of it. I also have no idea which curse he is under, so you will need to know which one in order to break it. We will need more information to determine that. Ms. Minoru, I highly suggest that you get serious about hitting the book _Forensic Sorcery: Principles, Methods, and Incantations_ as soon as possible. You’re going to need what’s in there. You need to find out what happened to your friends while they were in the Dark Dimension.”

“Aren’t you going to help me?”

Doctor Strange looks offended: “Ms. Minoru, I am helping you. Need I remind you that I’m your mentor, not your assistant? I’m not going to do _your_ legwork for you. If my help isn’t enough for you, may I suggest that you find a different mentor, or perhaps a babysitter? They are your friends, not mine: only you can tell if something is off with them. Also, do you think that it’s wise to involve the Sorcerer Supreme in an investigation that requires subtlety and discretion?”

“Uh, I suppose not, but please explain.”

Doctor Strange lets out an exasperated sigh. “Very well. Be careful about confronting your friend Alex: if he gets wise that anyone is onto him, it very well might elicit the curse to lash out and eliminate the person who spotted it to stay hidden. Same with your any of your other friends if they’re also cursed. The curse wants to remain undetected until its time has come, so it will do anything it can to avoid detection: it will rarely outright lie to you to do so, because a flat out lie will tend to draw too much attention when it gets found out. Generally, it will hide in the important details your friends refuse to reveal. My very presence would be a dead giveaway that there’s an investigation. Keep your eyes open. Find out who you can trust and who you can’t, figure out which curse those you can’t trust are under, and master the counter spell. It is of the utmost importance that whoever you can trust knows about Alex and anyone else cursed and how to handle themselves around those cursed, and that those cursed not know about one another. And no matter what you do, do not trust Alex.”


	8. Future Creep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico deals with the information Doctor Strange has divulged
> 
> Molly has a special request
> 
> Gert sees Max

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While it may, at first glance, seem that cursed individuals will necessarily cooperate with one another to achieve maximum harm, it is not the case. The relationship between curses can find an analogue to any relationship found in nature, be it symbiotic, parasitic, territorial, or predatory. It should also be noted that although it might seem reassuring to think that the destructive potential would be minimized when their relationship is antagonistic in nature, the trail of destruction inflicted upon those caught in the middle of such confrontations documented in past events should dispel any such comforting illusions.
> 
>  _Forensic Sorcery: Principles, Methods, and Incantations_ , p 237

Nico emerges from a portal back into the Hostel following her first lesson. Karolina can sense immediately that something’s off with Nico. Nico walks straight for Karolina and hugs her tight. Karolina hugs her back and kisses the top of her head.

“What’s wrong, Nico,” Karolina asks tenderly as she lays her cheek on top of Nico’s head.

“It’s something I learned during my lesson with Doctor Strange.”

Nico ponders whether to share the information with Karolina. Telling Karolina anything if she were cursed would be giving the curse a huge advantage. On the other hand, she can’t help but implicitly trust Karolina. She’s so open with Nico, never hiding anything. The one time that Karolina tried to hide something from her, when she was seeing Jonah behind everyone’s back, Nico knew immediately that something was off. Right now, as far as Nico can tell, Karolina isn’t hiding anything from her. Nico decides to tell her.

“I just don’t know who I can trust anymore.”

Karolina pulls away to look into Nico’s eyes. Concern for Nico’s wellbeing is etched all over her face.

“What do you mean,” Karolina asks.

“Doctor Strange asked me questions about the staff so we could anticipate where the danger would come from and be better prepared. He told me that Alex is cursed, but we don’t know what spell was used to curse him. That explains why Alex has been acting so strange since coming back. We need to find out whatever spell he’s under and counteract it. He also told me that anyone who was in the Dark Dimension with us could also be under a curse.”

“Okay, so we need to find out who we can trust. How can we tell?” Karolina’s calm, no nonsense practicality and warm presence despite understanding the danger she could be in reassures Nico and reminds her of the many reasons she admires Karolina so much.

“Well, those cursed will generally avoid outright lies, because getting caught will attract attention. In general, the tell will be in the gaps, like important elements that they leave out of a story or what they avoid. Also, we have to be careful: if a cursed individual feels like they’ve been found out, they may lash out and kill that person to keep their secret. Oh, and last but not least, if it turns out that two people are cursed, they cannot know about each other or else it could have catastrophic consequences.”

“Ok, so we need to be careful. You told me so I guess that means you trust me.”

Nico chuckles lightly “Yeah, you’re a terrible liar. I knew right away that there was something you weren’t telling me when you were off seeing Jonah.”

Karolina smiles. “Yeah, I suppose so. Although that’s not really fair: you could always see right through me,” she says with adoring eyes, before continuing: “I’m pretty sure you can trust Tina too. She gave up years of her life to enchant the salt that was used to contain Morgan.”

Nico replies, slightly amused: “Tina now, is it? I guess you two must’ve _really_ hit it off.” Karolina feels so happy, despite knowing the circumstances they’re in. The fact that they’re going through it together means everything to Karolina. Nico notices and feels the need to preserve her happiness and therefore, get back to business.

“You’re right, I think my mother’s safe too,” Nico says, relieved that at least two people are on her side, which is two people more than she had previously thought.

Karolina asks: “What about the rest?”

Nico ponders for a bit, then answers: “I don’t think Molly’s cursed either. That girl can’t keep a secret to save her life.” Karolina chuckles slightly and agrees. Nico continues: “I’m thinking that maybe we shouldn’t tell her anything for now: she can’t accidentally spill the beans if she doesn’t know. Gert and Chase, I’m not sure about. They’re always with each other and not really paying attention to us. I don’t know about Chase’s father and Gert and Mollys’s mother either.”

Karolina thinks about possible ways to clarify everyone’s status without exposing themselves, before answering: “I think that it’s fairly straightforward. We ask each of them separately about their time in the Dark Dimension, since that’s where the spell could have been cast, right?”

“Right,” answers Nico.

Karolina continues: “Okay, so we don’t need to tell them that it’s for an investigation or anything, but we could insist that it’s important for fighting the Staff of One. If they answer openly and without concealing anything, we let them in on everything regarding Alex and anyone else who might be cursed. If we feel them slinking away, we let them go without insisting too much and we’ll know to be careful around them. How does that sound?”

Nico answers: “I’m not too crazy about it to be honest, but it does sound like our best option at the moment. That still won’t tell us about the spell we’ll need to use to counteract the curse.”

“We’ll figure that part out when the time comes. We’ll keep an eye on them, maybe they’ll do something that’ll tip their hand.” Karolina continues in a reassuring voice: “Maybe they’re not even cursed and we’re worrying for nothing.”

“So, what do we do about Alex in the meantime?”

“We keep the conversation light and breezy around him as much as possible. We avoid discussing sensitive topics or anything that might trigger him. In other words, the usual. We do our investigation while he’s away. It’s pretty easy these days, he’s almost always at work.”

Nico rests her head on Karolina’s shoulder, before saying: “Gert will want Molly to know. She’s going to be so pissed.”

Karolina rests her cheek on top of Nico’s head. “I know she will. Her bark’s worse than her bite, we can take it.”

Nico closes her eyes and enjoys the moment. She wishes it could last forever. “Thank you for helping me, Karolina. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Karolina flashes one of her smiles that make Nico’s heart melt: “Anytime. Thank you for trusting me enough to confide in me. I really appreciate it.”

Nico can’t help but smile too. She pulls away to ask Karolina: “So how was your day?”

Karolina suddenly looks almost giddy: “I picked up the mail from our PO box today. I got my acceptance letter from UCLA.”

Nico jumps with joy into Karolina’s arms. “Wow, that’s amazing, I’m so happy for you. I’m sure you’ll make a great psychologist. They’d have been idiots not to take you.”

“Aw, that’s so nice of you.”

“Don’t tell anyone, I have a reputation to uphold,” Nico says with a mock threatening voice.

Karolina gets a playful grin. “You don’t scare me. I’ve seen you with pigtails, little miss congeniality.” Nico cringes playfully. Karolina continues: “Gert and Chase just stepped out with Molly to go to a movie. Alex said that he’s going to see Livvie.” Her tone turns seductive. “Which means that we have the place to ourselves. Feel like celebrating?”

“I was supposed to hit the books,” Nico answers while closing in for a long sensuous kiss. When their lips part, she continues: “but I think they can wait.”

* * *

Molly had spent every minute since waking up early that morning rehearsing her request in her head. _Oh dear, I’m really going to look stupid_ , she thought to herself throughout. She finally sees Nico leave her and Karolina’s room and head to the kitchen to prepare herself a cup of coffee. She is surprised to see Nico looking so unkempt. She must have really had a short night of sleep. Still, Nico is also uncharacteristically upbeat this morning.

Molly flashes a knowing smirk as she says: “Short night?”

Nico is so taken by surprise by Molly’s casual, yet loaded remark that she swallows her sip of coffee down the wrong pipe.

Molly laughs as Nico spits out her coffee over the dining room table and starts having a coughing fit. Nico’s still in a good mood though. Must have been a _really_ good night. “Molly, I should have you clean this up for that,” she half jokingly says as she heads to the kitchen to get something absorbant to clean up the mess she just made.

Molly asks: “How was your day yesterday?”

“It was fine. Had my first lesson with Doctor Strange. Came home. Hit the books.”

“Sure you did,” says Molly with an amused skepticism.

Nico notices and raises her brow in response. “I know you’re trying to get me to spit out my coffee again. It’s not gonna work,” Nico says with an air of good natured defiance on her face.

Molly tentatively decides to get to what’s on her mind: “How is Doctor Strange?”

“Kind of an asshole, really. I really hate to say it, but he _is_ the best.”

“Ah, I see. I know Doctor Strange has worked with the Avengers before. Might even be a member of the team, I’m not sure.”

Nico raises a curious brow: “Yeah, so?’

“Well, the Avengers are as big as it gets when it comes to the superhero gig and I was wondering if… maybe… if you don’t mind… you could put in a good word for me?”

Nico nearly swallows her sip of coffee down the wrong pipe for the second time this morning.

“Molly, you can’t be serious. Doctor Strange is an arrogant jackass who has made it very clear that he thinks very little of me. He certainly won’t listen to my opinion except maybe to find a way to deride it.”

“Fine, I get it.” Molly says, as her face goes from earnestness to disillusion in the span of a sentence.

Nico can’t bear being the one to destroy her dreams. She lets out a long, audible sigh before saying: “Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine, I’ll do it. Now stop moping.”

Molly spontaneously leaps up from her chair, picks a surprised and bemused Nico up in her arms as if she weighed nothing and hugs her while joyously twirling around.

“Thank you so much, Nico!”

* * *

Gert and Chase are in the food court, looking for Max. Alex had decided to tag along, saying that he needed to pick up some electronics from a store inside the mall. They suddenly spot him, shuffling about, sweeping, looking miserable.

Gert and Chase walk up to him as Alex decides to hang back.

“Hi,” says Gert.

He lifts his head to see her. The same feeling of vague recognition coupled with an inability to get a clear mental image of where he knows her from torments him. Still, there is something else too. Her decidedly unglamorous clothes, her purple hair, and her glasses form an alluring nonconformist aesthetic that elicits his instant attraction. He wants to get to know her. His face can’t help but slightly reveal his disappointment when he notices her holding hands with Chase.

“Uh, hi? Do I know you?”

“I’m Gert, this is Chase.”

Chase extends his hand for a handshake. Somewhat confused, he extends his hand too and shakes hands with Chase. Suddenly, something clicks in his mind. He turns to Gert.

“Oh, I think I saw your sister. She told me about you.”

This is the first moment of genuine excitement he’s felt in months.

“Yeah, she told us about you too when she got home. We came to see how you were doing. From what we heard; it didn’t seem like you were doing very well.”

His eyes tear up a little. “I can’t say I am, no.”

Gert asks: “Wanna talk about it?”

He hesitates. He knows he needs to talk to someone about his situation, but confiding to three strangers seems intimidating. Gert notices his hesitation and understands the situation. She says: “Maybe you’d be more comfortable just talking to me?”

He doesn’t know Gert, but he implicitly trusts her. He responds: “I’d like that. I got lunch break coming up.”

Gert turns to Chase: “Chase, would you mind giving us some time alone?”

Chase answers: “No problem.” He then turns his attention to the young man and continues: “Before I go, I know that you probably don’t remember me, but I want to apologize anyways. I was a real dick to you and I’m sorry about that. Gert and I were going through some issues and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have acted that way. I think you’re a good guy, you didn’t deserve it.”

“No offense taken. It’s cool, really. Water under the bridge,” he says, the utter befuddlement in his voice unmistakable.

Chase continues: “If you need help or anything, I’d be happy to do what I can.”

“Much appreciated.”

Alex and Chase walk off. Gert sits at a table, facing the young man.

“What happened to you?” Gert asks.

“I don’t know. Nothing makes sense anymore. I don’t even know who I am. I think it all started at a launch party of some kind for those Corvus phones. That’s the earliest event I can remember.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“I’m not sure. It’s like I woke up in the middle of an ongoing party. A woman greeted me. I asked her who she was. She answered that the bigger question is who I am, smirking arrogantly as she said it. I noticed that she was right, I had no idea who I was and couldn’t remember anything about my own life. She then told me that I’d spend the rest of my days asking myself that question.”

“Can you describe her?”

“She was pretty in a generic kind of way. She had long brown hair. She wore a red dress and spoke with a British accent. I found out her name was Bronwyn. I can’t really say much more.”

“Sounds like a member of Morgan’s coven did this.”

“What?”

“Morgan was the head of Corvus at the time. She had a, uh, security team called the coven. Please continue.”

“Yeah, I made it home that night and didn’t even recognize my own place. Didn't even recognize my own face when I looked in the mirror. Ever since then, I’ve been a walking mess of anxiety. The nonstop existential questions without answers going on and on endlessly in my head, it’s crippling. I really have no idea what to do with the rest of my life. I’ve been given student leave by the university, but I’m leaning heavily towards dropping out entirely.”

Gert reaches across the table and places her hand on his forearm. His heart skips a beat when he feels her touch and then he relaxes for the first time in months.

She says: “I know what you’re going through. When I was thirteen, my mother used a mind wipe drug on me. It only erased a few hours of my life, but I thought I was losing my mind. That’s when I had my first anxiety attack. Obviously, it doesn’t even begin to compare to losing years of your life, but you’re not alone.”

“How do you cope with it?”

“I’m on medication. That helps a lot. I also know how to recognize when I’m spinning out of control. When that happens, I usually focus on staying calm and my breathing. Chase is great too. I don’t think he knows how much he helps me with my anxiety because I never told him, but he helps so much.” She almost lets it slip that she has an emotional support dinosaur.

His heart sinks at the mention of Chase’s name.

Gert asks: “How about you, how have you coped with it?”

“There’s a poem I’ve read that I recite to myself whenever I’m feeling too down.:”

> Out of the night that covers me,  
>  Black as the pit from pole to pole,  
>  I thank whatever gods may be  
>  For my unconquerable soul.
> 
> In the fell clutch of circumstance  
>  I have not winced nor cried aloud.  
>  Under the bludgeonings of chance  
>  My head is bloody, but unbowed.
> 
> Beyond this place of wrath and tears  
>  Looms but the Horror of the shade,  
>  And yet the menace of the years  
>  Finds and shall find me unafraid.
> 
> It matters not how strait the gate,  
>  How charged with punishments the scroll,  
>  I am the master of my fate,  
>  I am the captain of my soul.

“I know that poem. That’s _Invictus,_ ” Gert says.

“Yeah. These days, I identify with it more than my own name. Isn’t that odd?”

His supervisor comes along: “How many times have I told you not to flirt with the customers?”

Gert gets up and intervenes: “One, it’s his lunch break, he can bloody well spend it talking with whoever he wants. Two, he wasn’t flirting, I was the one who initiated the conversation. Three, what you’re doing qualifies as workplace harassment. You can either walk away or take your chances, so which is it going to be?”

The supervisor mumbles beneath her breath and leaves in a huff.

He looks at Gert in overt admiration, barely managing to conceal how smitten he is with her. Gert sits back at the table and they make small talk until Chase and Alex return. His heart sinks again when he sees how happy she is when she greets Chase back. She gets up to meet Chase and he sees them whisper in each other’s ear. Chase walks over and says: “Gert’s told me that you’re going through hard times. I wouldn’t feel right if we did nothing to help you, especially given how I was with you the last time we saw one another. I asked Gert if she would mind inviting you to hang out some time, maybe lift your spirits a little. She told me she was thinking the same thing. So I’d like to extend an open invitation.”

As much as he’d like to see Gert again, the thought of seeing her being so happy with Chase makes him somewhat reluctant. Still, this Chase guy does seem like a genuinely nice fellow, he thinks, and it’s nobody’s fault that they both happen to like Gert. He puts on a brave face and responds positively. As he agrees and they go about exchanging phone numbers, he notices Alex in the background, looking on attentively.


	9. Q&A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Karolina enquire about Gert and Chase’s time in the Dark Dimension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any spell wishing to affect the material world is nevertheless bound to its rules; for instance, anyone wishing to freeze or boil water through magical means will still be required to manipulate its temperature
> 
> \- _Principiis Magicae_ , p. 93

Gert is seated in the dining room, reading the latest issue of _Z magazine_ while waiting for Chase to finish reading a chapter he had just started in his calculus textbook; she was a wonderful tutor and he was an eager student, but they occasionally found it difficult to focus on the task at hand and keep their hands off each other when they were together. Nico and Karolina enter the room with a serious look on their face. Gert immediately notices their expression and gets suspicious that something’s afoot. She gives them an inquisitive look.

Nico speaks: “Gert, we need to talk to you. It’s about the Staff of One. Doctor Strange said that it would help for our preparation if we could anticipate where the danger will be coming from. He insisted that what happened to us in the Dark Dimension was important and that it was likely that the danger originates from there. Because of that, we need to ask you about what happened during both of your visits, more specifically the parts where we were separated. I promise there’s a good reason and that we’ll explain everything after you answer.”

“We need you to be honest and open,” says Karolina, her eyes begging Gert to be cooperative.

The manner in which they approached Gert makes her somewhat apprehensive and suspicious, but she sets these concerns aside, if only because she was guaranteed an explanation afterwards. “Ask away, but I really want that explanation afterwards” she says with a resolute voice.

Nico understands Gert’s reluctance, but knowing if she can be trusted is the overriding issue: “You’ll get it. Where did you end up when we got separated during our first visit to the Dark Dimension?”

“I ended up in the basement of my old house. My mother was there with me.”

Karolina asks: “When we came back from our first visit to the Dark Dimension, you had a visible scratch on your arm. How did you get it?”

“I was attacked by a deinonychus.” Gert notices that Nico and Karolina are not satisfied with her answer, so she elaborates: “I had walked into its enclosure to feed it. My mother had dared me to. She was pissed off with me for giving her attitude. I walked in thinking that I’d see another Old Lace. I realized that I couldn’t sense her the way I can with Old Lace. I tried to bond with it, but it was mainly interested in the chicken I was holding.”

“That still doesn’t fully explain how you got the scratch,” Nico says.

“After I fed her, she quickly disappeared in the foliage inside her enclosure. I then heard her trying to sneak behind me. She got between me and the exit to her enclosure and looked aggressive and threatening. I got really scared. My mother shot the dinosaur with a tranquilizer dart. I took advantage of the distraction to run to the door. As I ran past, she managed to scratch me.”

Being forced to recount the events that occurred in the Dark Dimension bring back the traumatic memories within Gert. At the moment, she deeply resents Nico and Karolina for putting her through this, but she is still willing to believe their initial promise that the questions are necessary and that they will clarify the reasons for this unexpected interrogation.

“What happened after that,” Nico asks.

“Chase and his father showed up. I was so shaken up, I ran to Chase and hugged him. He told me that he came as fast as he could as he hugged me back. We all left together in Chase’s father’s car and found everyone else.”

Karolina asks: “You said your mother dared you to walk into the enclosure. Why would she do that?”

“We had had an argument. I found out that my mother had used a mind wipe drug on me in the past and that it likely triggered my anxiety issues. I told her that I didn’t need her and that I could take care of myself. She told me that if I was so damn tough, then I could take care of feeding the creature.”

Wiping someone’s mind seems like such a prodigiously bad idea that Karolina just has to ask, almost in disbelief: “Why would she use a mind wipe drug on you?”

“When I was 12 or 13, I went down to the basement in my parents’ house even though I wasn’t supposed to. I saw an early prototype version of Old Lace. My mother erased my memory of it in a misguided attempt to protect me.”

Nico asks: “What about your second visit to the Dark Dimension?”

“What about it?”

“How did you, Chase, and Ty end up separated from me, Tandy, and Karolina?”

“I split off from the group after I saw a younger version of Molly, like, the age she was when she first moved in with my family after her biological parents died. After I saw Molly, she came out of her wheelchair and started rapidly crawling towards me in a threatening manner. I fell to the ground. Chase came to get me, and he also fell to the ground. Ty came in and did his magic hoody thing and we ended up in the other tower.”

“What did you do then?”

“We decided to stick with the original plan and headed towards the agreed upon destination.”

“When we next saw you, you and Chase were cornered by prison guards. How did you end up that way?”

“We stumbled upon them. I was having a panic attack after we heard the guards’ leader tell them that he wanted them to bring him our heads. I tried convincing Ty to bring me back home so Molly wouldn’t have to grow up without a family. He refused to do it because he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to find Tandy again if he did. I grabbed his hand as he walked past me and saw a vision. When it was over, I was so shaken up that I stumbled onto a table and it knocked some of the dominos on it onto the ground and the sound attracted guards. We heard them running towards us, so we ran into an adjacent room to evade them and the guards you saw us with were already there, not expecting us to show up.”

“You said you had a vision when you grabbed Ty’s arm. What did you see?”

“I saw Molly, Old Lace, and Chase getting attacked by a large flock of Morgan’s ravens. They were afraid, in pain, and in danger, and I was powerless to stop any of it.” Through gritted teeth, and barely contained anger visible on her face, an aggrieved Gert asks: “Do you have any more questions? Because if you don’t I sure as hell have some questions for you that I want answers to immediately, and they better be worth it.”

Nico and Karolina look at one another other trying to read what the other person is thinking. They both nod to one another.

Karolina starts: “We’re really sorry about that Gert, but we had to ask.”

Nico continues: “It’s something I learned during my last visit with Doctor Strange. Alex is cursed. We don’t know which curse it is yet, but we’re trying to find out. Doctor Strange also told me that it might be possible that anyone who was with us in the Dark Dimension might also be cursed by some spell. This is why we were asking all these questions. Cursed people will do anything to avoid being detected. They generally won’t straight up lie, but they will avoid revealing relevant information, leaving gaps in their stories. That’s why Alex has been acting so shady recently.”

Karolina continues: “We asked you because we weren’t sure and it’s the only way we could think of finding out.”

Gert replies, her anger slowly subsiding: “Fair enough. So what do we do about Alex in the meantime?”

Nico answers: “For now, we don’t confront him and act the same as we did before. Cursed people can be dangerous and be willing to do anything to avoid detection, including killing anyone whom they think might be onto them. Right now, we think you’re safe. So is my mother. We also think Molly is safe as well, but we’re thinking that it would be best if she didn’t know about this.”

Gert protests: “What?!? No way! She has to know!”

Karolina speaks: “Gert, the reason we think she’s not cursed without having spoken to her is that she can’t keep a secret; she’s an open book to everyone. If we let her in the loop, she might very well accidentally reveal what she knows. We’re doing it to keep her and everyone else safe.”

Gert looks most seriously displeased, but it’s hard to argue against the fact that Molly can’t keep a secret. “Fine, but we’ll have to tell her eventually,” she says, deliberately using her tone to signify her dissatisfaction. She continues: “So what’s next?”

Nico answers: “We still need to ask Chase about his time in the Dark Dimension to see if he can be trusted or not. We were thinking of doing it ASAP. You don’t need to be here.”

Gert responds in a resolute voice: “I’m staying for Chase. I know he’s going to need me to be there.”

Karolina and Gert look at one another a little confused. The fact that Gert wouldn’t make a request but rather state what she was going to do wasn’t wholly unexpected, but her follow-up sentence was. Given how Gert answered every question fully and openly, they feel like they have no choice but to accept. Gert goes to get Chase from their room.

When he arrives, he takes a seat and asks Nico and Karolina: “Gert tells me you wanted to talk to me. So, what’s this about?”

Nico answers: “I spoke with Doctor Strange during my last visit and he suggested that the danger could emanate from our visit to the Dark Dimension. We’re trying to determine where dangers could be coming from, so we’re better prepared for them. We need to ask you questions about what happened during your visit.”

Chase immediately gets a panicked look on his face, like a cornered animal. Nico and Karolina immediately get suspicious. Gert notices, so she goes over and sits next to him. She says softly: “I’m sorry Chase, but they really do need to ask those questions. I promise, they’ll explain everything after. It’s really important for you to know their explanation.”

Chase looks closely at Gert. He turns to Nico and Karolina and gives them an unsure nod. Nico begins: “During our first visit to the Dark Dimension, we all got split up when we left the Hostel. Where did you end up?”

“I ended up on a street in front of a diner. We passed in front of the same diner during our second visit as well.”

 _So far so good_ , Nico thinks. “Was anyone there with you?”

“Not at first, but then I noticed my father’s car parked in front of the diner. My father and grandfather were in it.”

“Gert told us that you arrived at where she was in your father’s car along with your father, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Why wasn’t your grandfather with you?”

Chase grows agitated. This question is clearly making him uncomfortable. Tears are beginning to well in his eyes and he looks like he’s about to completely fall apart. Gert places her hand on his. Chase holds on to her hand like a drowning man holding on to a buoy in a stormy sea. Nico and Karolina look at each other: they know that there’s something that Chase isn’t telling them given the intensity of his emotional reaction and their fears are getting confirmed.

Gert whispers in his ear: “Chase, it’s important that you not hide anything.”

He whispers back: “I know. I just… I can’t right now.”

She tells him: “If you want, I can speak for you, but you have to give me permission to tell Nico and Karolina what you told me about what happened.”

He looks at her and nods.

Gert speaks: “His grandfather wasn’t there because Chase beat him up.”

Nico and Karolina are surprised not only by Gert’s answer, but also that Gert is the one answering their question. Nico asks Gert: “And you know this because?”

“I know this because Chase told me,” replies Gert firmly and defiantly.

Nico and Karolina look at each other, unsure whether or not to accept Gert’s intervention. They decide to accept it; Chase had at least been open to one person.

Nico turns back to Chase: “Why did you beat him up?”

“It was to defend my father… at first.” He hesitates, before continuing: “Then it was just pent-up anger coming out.”

Karolina asks: “Why were you angry?”

Chase looks over at Gert with supplicating eyes.

Gert immediately understands his request and speaks: “He was angry because he saw his grandfather beat his father the same way his father beat him.”

Chase looks down at the floor like a beaten dog. Gert rubs his back to soothe him. Nico and Karolina are stunned. An uncomfortable silence lingers, until, finally, Chase recovers enough to ask: “Do you have any more questions?”

Neither Nico nor Karolina is able think of more questions after such a revelation, nor do they want to prolong Chase’s distress. Nico speaks: “Chase, we’re terribly sorry that we put you through this, but we had to make sure that we could trust you. It’s about the Staff of One and Alex…”

* * *

Chase and Gert are finally back in their bedroom, lying on their bed in silence. Dinner earlier that evening had been punctuated by numerous silences, Gert and Chase on one side, not talking with Nico and Karolina on the other side. This had left Molly and, ironically, Alex of all people, in a position to be the ones to fill the awkward silences and ease the conversation. They had tried the best they could to make conversation with everyone, but despite their best effort, a noticeable discomfort lingered. Immediately after dinner, Gert and Chase had excused themselves to their room and not come out. 

Chase finally breaks the silence: “I just wanted to thank you for earlier, with Nico and Karolina. I’m sorry that I couldn’t do this by myself and you had to do it for me.”

“Chase, you’re such an idiot.”

Chase gives Gert a puzzled look. “What?”

“I don’t ever want you to apologize for needing help, especially about this, you hear me? I’m there for you, and that’s all there is to it.” She gets a lopsided grin, before continuing: “Accept it.”

Chase smirks back: “Well, ma’am, I’d thank you and apologize for saying I was sorry earlier, but my girlfriend hates it when I do that.”

Chase and Gert hear a knock on the door. Chase walks over to open. It’s Karolina. Gert picks up a book and pretends to read when she sees who it is.

“Hey, Karolina,” says Chase.

“Hi Chase, I went to pick up the mail yesterday and thought you guys should see this.”

She hands him two envelopes: one from Smith and the other, from MIT.

Karolina continues: “You know, Chase, if you ever need to talk…”

“Thanks, Karolina, but I’m good. Don’t worry about earlier today, Gert and I will be fine. We just need a little bit of time to process it all.”

Karolina breathes a sigh of relief. “Thanks Chase. Have a good night.”

“You too.”

Chase closes the door and looks excitedly at Gert. She lifts her eyes from the book she was fixated on to avoid looking at Karolina. She focuses her gaze on Chase and asks: “What?”

Chase lifts the envelopes, one in each hand. When she sees the logo on the envelopes, Gert rapidly gets up and rushes over to grab the envelope from Smith. She eyes it with trepidation and a little hesitation. Chase asks: “Do you want us to open them together?”

Gert looks up and smiles. “Of course,” she answers.

They both simultaneously open their envelope, pull out its contents, unfold a sheet of paper and read it. Soon after, their gaze drift towards each other, unsure of what to think.

Chase asks: “So?”

Gert answers: “I got accepted. You?”

Chase’s entire face lights up with joy. “Same.”

Gert is so happy she could cry right now. She runs over and jumps in Chase’s arms.

“We’re really doing this,” he says, happiness palpable in his voice.

“Yeah,” Gert replies, choked up with emotion.

“I love you so much,” Chase says.

Gert hugs him tighter, then surprises him by pulling back and planting a kiss on him.

* * *

Karolina comes to her and Nico’s bedroom where Nico was awaiting her. When she closes the door, Nico asks her: “So, how did it go?”

“It went well enough. I think that it’ll be fine. I mean, we just did dig into some of their most innermost secrets and all, and then we followed it up by dumping some pretty heavy information on them and then asked them to keep it a secret from Molly on top of it.”

Nico breathes a sigh of relief. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re doing the right thing, you know,” she says wistfully.

Karolina lies down next to Nico. “Yeah, I feel the same. Still, we had to know, and we couldn’t keep them in the dark forever either. One way or the other, sooner or later, it had to be done. I don’t think there was ever going to be a quick and easy way to do this.”

“Yeah. To quote Gert: ‘I hate that you’re right’. Don’t ever tell her I quoted her.”

Karolina laughs a little. “Nico, I wanted to tell you that I know that this isn’t easy for you, but I think that you’re doing fantastically well with all of this.”

Nico looks gratefully into Karolina’s eyes. “Thank you. Not just for your encouragement just now, but also for how you’ve helped me through this. I don’t know how I’d do it without you. Just knowing that I have you in my corner makes this all so much easier to bear.”

“I know. You don’t need to thank me for it, I’m happy to do it. I know you’d do the same for me.”

Nico knows it, but still finds it hard to believe. She knew she had lucked out with Karolina, but found it hard to consider the possibility that maybe they had both lucked out. And yet, when she was with Karolina, she believed in everything she had ever been cynical about.


	10. Parental supervision is advised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The parents answer questions about their time in the Dark Dimension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although conclusions will have to await completion of data collection and analysis, preliminary results are highly promising. Not only does Ramavizir compare favorably to the generally recognized current best treatment options for the alleviation of anxiety symptoms and duration of symptom alleviation after administration of doses, but it far outdoes them in rapidity of therapeutic effects, offering near instantaneous relief from anxiety symptoms when administered intravenously. 
> 
> Dale and Stacey Yorkes, _Phase III Ramavizir clinical trials progress report_

“Thanks dad. See you then.”

Chase hangs up the phone. Earlier discussion with Nico and Karolina had made it apparent that they would need to talk to Chase’s father and Gert’s mother to determine if they had also fallen under a curse during their visit to the Dark Dimension. Gert had first called her parents to invite them over. As expected, they accepted enthusiastically. Gert had stayed at Chase’s request for his phone call to his father.

Chase looks over to Gert, concern plain to see all over her face. “I’m fine, really,” he says in a reassuring voice.

“Are you sure? I mean, it’s perfectly okay if you’re not. I mean, I don’t mean it’s okay if you’re not fine. I mean, you don’t have to pretend to be fine just to reassure me.” She cringes after finishing her sentence. She can’t believe how tongue tied she still gets sometimes around Chase.

Chase notices and smirks subtly. He takes her hands and kisses her knuckles. He looks into her eyes and says: “Yeah, I’m sure. With you by my side, I feel I could take on anything.”

Gert’s heart melts into a puddle right then and there. Her rational side rapidly calls her back to order. “I’m serious Chase. Is there anything I can do to make this easier for you?”

He thinks for a bit: “I suppose that I am a little nervous thinking about how things will go. Not just the possibility that my dad might have something wrong with him for the nth time, but I suppose that I’m also worried about how everyone will react to him when he gets here now that they know.”

“Well, I can’t speak for anyone but myself at the moment, but if there’s anything I can do to make your father not feel too unwelcome, I’ll do it through gritted teeth,” she says, before adding: “For you.”

Chase smiles appreciatively. “Thank you. I’m not asking for anything more than that. I’m already super uncomfortable with the entire situation myself. To be honest, I’m still not done reconciling all the conflicting emotions I have about all of it, but I do know that sooner or later, I have to makes some kind of peace with it and move on. I can’t hold onto that anger and resentment forever.”

“Yes, but can you trust your father?”

“At the moment, I think he means well, but that’s happened before. You don’t think it makes me weak, do you?”

“No, of course not. How could you not want his love and approval? He’s your father. I just worry about what it could do to you if he lets you down again. Just… please be careful. The last thing I want to see is you getting hurt again.”

“I promise I’ll be careful. Whatever happens, my relationship with you comes first. If he does behave abusively again or does anything to get between us, that’s it, I’m done with the relationship with my father. No regrets because I did everything I could. I can’t ask you to pick up the pieces and put them back together, it wouldn’t be fair to you.” Gert looks relieved to hear Chase say it, especially that he came to this conclusion on his own. Chase follows up by asking: “How about you? How will you deal with your parents coming over?”

“I… don’t know, actually. I think that I’ve finally come to terms with my father and I could talk to him. It’ll never be like old times, but I could still get along with him. My mother’s more complicated. I know that she meant well when she erased my memory, but I still suffer to this day from the issues that it created. It’s hard for me not to be angry with her when I think about it.”

“I get it. I just want you to know that I think your anger is completely legitimate,” says Chase. Gert is tremendously grateful; Chase is the first person to have validated her emotions towards her mother. Stacey’s stubborn denial because she herself was unable to face up to the guilt she felt about her actions and their consequences had only made things worse. The only thing that made it somewhat tolerable was the remorseful expression on her mother’s face despite her refusal to take ownership of her actions and their consequences.

Gert lets out a sigh of relief and responds: “Thank you. I sometimes worry if I’m doing the right thing. Especially when I see that you seem to be moving past your anger with your father.”

“Gert, it’s not the same. I’ve had years to deal with my situation, and it’s only with your help that I finally started dealing with my problems. You only learned about yours recently. You don’t need to be so hard on yourself. I think you’re doing really well.”

“Really,” Gert asks, surprised by Chase’s compliment given how she thought that she was handling the matter rather poorly.

“Yeah. I spent years running away from my problems, so you’re already way ahead of me on that count.”

“It’s not a competition, Chase.”

“I know. I’m just trying to say how much I admire you and the way you deal with your problems head on.”

Gert is immensely touched by Chase’s words, so much so that she finds herself unable to say the only words on her mind at that very moment: _I love you_. She grows frustrated with herself, and Chase notices her frustration. He asks: “Did I say something wrong?”

Gert shakes her head as her eyes fill with tears. Chase asks: “Can I do something to help?” Gert walks towards him and embraces him. He wraps his arms around her in response. As she rests her head against Chase, Gert starts to relax and feel safe again.

* * *

Dale and Stacey Yorkes arrive at the Hostel at the agreed upon time on a weekday afternoon. The gang had picked a time where Alex would be at his office and Molly had planned to see a movie that she wouldn’t stop trying to recruit other people to go see with her. As they enter, they see Tina and the kids minus Alex and Molly. Seeing Dale’s joyful expression upon noticing her, Gert can’t help but have a cautious smile in return. Gert then sees her mother coming in behind him. Gert’s smile disappears and her expression becomes much more ambivalent. Chase notices the change in Gert’s demeanour immediately and asks: “What’s wrong?” He then follows Gert’s gaze and sees that she’s looking at her mother. Gert says: “I just can’t deal with talking to her right now.” Chase whispers in Nico’s ear, and then rushes over to greet Gert’s mother. He takes her to one side of the main hall as Gert gravitates to the opposite side.

Victor Stein arrives soon after. Chase is the first to greet him, looking both as welcoming and as uncomfortable as humanly possible. Gert and Karolina try their best to greet him as warmly as they can for the sake of Chase, but despite their outward appearance of cordiality, their reluctance is palpable. Nico openly glares at Victor, emanating loathing and disgust despite her half-hearted attempts at concealing it. Victor immediately feels uncomfortable at such a welcome and comes to the realization that pretty much everyone knows about his actions toward Chase.

Nico speaks: “Victor, Stacey, I suppose that you’re wondering to yourselves why we invited you over. The reason is that we need to ask those of you who went with us in the Dark Dimension some questions about what happened during their time there. We promise an explanation afterwards if we’re satisfied with your answers. Who wants to go first?”

Victor and Stacey look at each other, unsure what to do. Stacey raises her hand tentatively. “Very well,” Tina says, “Stacey, you come with us. Victor, you can stay with Gert until someone comes and gets you. Dale, you go with Chase.”

Victor, Dale and Stacey stand around dumbfounded for a few seconds before complying. Stacey follows Tina, Nico, and Karolina into a room. Four chairs and a table occupy the room, three on one side of the table, and one on the other side. Nico takes the center seat, flanked by Karolina and Tina on either side.

“Have a seat, Stacey,” says Tina, who had easily reverted back to her cold, calculating persona for the purpose of the meet-up.

Stacey sits down and, without any additional prompting starts talking garrulously: “We arrived here. Well, not here here, but Dark Dimension here. There were guests in some sort of reception and a magician. He called himself Quinton the Great if I recall correctly. He warned us not to leave the sanctuary of his home or else we’d regret it. He also told us that pretty soon, wherever we were would become all we’d ever known as all memory of our prior lives would fade away. We discussed what to do amongst ourselves and thought that he looked and sounded too suspicious to be trustworthy, so we decided to ignore his advice and head out to look for a way back home. When I walked through the exit, I ended up in my lab in my basement years ago, back when I was working on an early prototype for Gert’s deinonychus. Gert must have been 12 or 13 years old at the time. I relived the night when she had snuck downstairs and saw the creature; she must have heard some noises and gotten curious. Back then, we hadn’t yet figured out how to make a domesticated deinonychus, so the creature was quite feral and dangerous. She and I talked a little and I took advantage of the fact that she wasn’t paying attention to me to use the mind wipe drug on her.”

“Except it didn’t work,” finishes Nico.

“No, not that time. I didn’t understand because the first time I used it, back when Gert was 12 or 13, it worked fine.”

Nico’s facial expression hardens.

Stacey notices and continues: “I know you all must think that I’m a terrible mother, but I would do anything to protect my daughter. My daughter looked horrified by the terrifying creature in that enclosure. It didn’t help that I was also dissecting its brethren as she came down. I used the mind wipe drug that we were developing for Jonah to make her feel better.”

* * *

Gert stands guard, along with Old Lace, arms crossed as she watches Victor Stein to make sure that he doesn’t spy into the room where Stacey is being questioned behind closed doors. For Chase’s sake, Gert tries her best to keep a neutral facial expression when looking at Victor Stein, communicating neither friendliness nor hostility. She actively tries to avoid thinking of all the things she’d like to say to Victor because she is well aware that none of them are pleasant. Despite her best efforts, she finds her thoughts wandering to imagining herself giving Victor Stein a piece of her mind whenever she is not actively paying attention to not thinking about it. An interminable, heavy silence fills the room. Victor Stein sits slumped forward, face in his hands, looking like a defeated man resigned to his fate. Finally, Victor speaks to Gert while carefully avoiding looking in her direction: “I suppose you must hate me. I guess you have every right to.”

Gert is a little startled by the fact Victor Stein spoke to her. She had been hoping that they would simply not talk to one another for the duration of the wait. She answers, trying her hardest to be as civil as possible, but her voice nevertheless unintentionally betraying her deep enmity: “Part of me does for what you did to Chase. But if he’s not holding a grudge against you, then I suppose that I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if I did so either.” 

Victor Stein finally looks in Gert’s direction. “Thank you. I won’t blow this chance. Heaven knows I’ve blown more chances than I deserve.”

“We’ll see about that,” she says noncommittally. Old Lace nuzzles Gert. Gert pets her without breaking eye contact with Victor. Next thing Victor knows, Old Lace is eyeing him with unmistakable aggressive intent. Gert continues: “But if you ever hurt Chase again, you’ll have to deal with me,” she says as Old Lace growls menacingly.

“Duly noted,” he says, clearly intimidated. “Is there anything I can do? I know saying I’m sorry won’t cut it no matter how many times I say it.”

“You can start by spending the rest of your life making it up to him to earn his forgiveness,” she says, her voice slightly betraying her deep indignation. Her tone turns sarcastic as she continues: “If you do that, well you and I could just be best pals.”

Victor smiles slightly: “I think I know what Chase sees in you.”

At that very moment, Stacey comes out of the room along with Karolina, who comes in and ushers Victor Stein into the interview room.

* * *

Nico’s glare turns downright glacial as Victor Stein enters the room. Tina manages to stay stone faced and expressionless. Karolina’s unease is far and away the most positive reaction in the room to his arrival.

“Can I have a seat,” Victor asks.

An interminable pause lasts until Karolina, no longer able to withstand the silence, answers: “Yes.”

Seeing her daughter fuming with anger, Tina decides to take the lead. She addresses Victor in a cold, emotionless tone: “Hi Victor, as we’ve told you earlier, we’re here to discuss what happened during your visit in the Dark Dimension. We’re going to have to ask you to spare no relevant detail about it.”

Victor answers: “Okay, what do you want to know?”

Tina responds: “We already know what happened when we met Quinton the Great. Why don’t you start by telling us what happened after we all left and got separated?”

“I ended up in my car, parked in front of my father’s diner,” he says. His tone turns fearful as he continues: “I was seated in the passenger’s seat, awaiting my father’s return, dreading what would come next. My father came into the car. I had gotten a bad grade in English. I was terrified to tell him because I knew that he’d fly off the handle if I did. I told him anyways because I knew that if he learned later from someone else, it’d be even worse.” His tone turns frustrated and angry: “Right away, he accused me of being lazy and stupid. I tried to explain myself, but it only made it worse. He said that all he could hear was excuses and wouldn’t hear any of it. I tried yelling my explanation, hoping to get through to him, then he punched me, over and over as he told me how much of a disappointment I was to him, that I was never going to amount to anything.”

Nico asks: “How did it feel, having your father beat you up like that?”

Karolina is a little startled by Nico’s question. She turns, and sees Nico unblinkingly eyeing Victor with an icy stare.

Victor hesitates, then opts to answer: “My father beating me made me feel terrified, weak, and helpless. The things he said to me as he was doing it made me feel worthless.”

“So, you knew how it felt to go through that, and still you did it to your own son,” Nico says, in a tone that could be interpreted either as a question or an accusation.

Victor nods silently.

Karolina asks in bewilderment: “Why?”

“Because I spent my entire life angry and dissatisfied. I couldn’t even get back at the miserable old bastard, he’d up and died a long time ago. I tried escaping it: I was wildly successful, I was even hailed as a genius in the public eye,” he says derisively, before taking a fatalistic tone, “but it was never enough. No matter what I did, or how successful I was, the high I got from my successes and the accolades were fleeting, and then, next thing I’d know, I’d be right back to feeling an impotent rage that I couldn’t get out of my circumstances: I knew that I couldn’t escape my past and there was nothing I could do to change that. All I could do not to feel like shit all the time was to go back to desperately seeking the next validation high knowing full well that it would also be fleeting. I was fully aware of how meaningless it all was, but I still felt compelled to do it, and that just fed into the rage and sense of powerlessness.”

“And beating your son made you feel validated,” Nico asks, her voice dripping with revulsion and contempt.

“No, but it let the rage out of my system, gave it expression, and it made me feel powerful. Despite everything, I’d spent my entire life feeling powerless to change my circumstances. I knew that what I was doing was wrong, but I’d tell myself that Chase had it coming because he’d mouthed off at me, or gotten a bad grade, or done something to displease me. So, it became my responsibility to set him straight, just like my dad had done with me. At least that’s what I used to tell myself.”

Karolina speaks to Victor in a tone that she usually reserved for Gert: “Do you have any idea how much harm you’ve inflicted upon Chase? To this day, he still has a difficult time acting without external validation, yours most of all, and he struggles with the same anger you have.”

Victor Stein nods silently, guilt all over his face and body language. Nico, Karolina, and Tina look at one another. Tina speaks: “Victor, the reason we asked you about your time in the Dark Dimension is this…”

* * *

Stacey walks out of her interrogation and comes face to face with Gert. A discomfort lingers between them, as they look at one another, Stacey looking guilty and Gert, conflicted. Gert gestures Stacey to follow her as she starts walking to the room occupied by Chase and Dale.

Gert addresses Chase: “Hey Chase, could we please switch person?”

Chase looks a little surprised, but is cooperative: “No problem,” he answers. He then turns to Dale and asks: “Could you please follow Gert? Stacey will stay here with me.”

Stacey and Dale look at one another, a little surprised by this unexpected request. Stacey nods sadly to Dale, and they agree. As she heads out of the room with Dale, Gert hears Chase ask: “Are you okay there, Mrs. Yorkes?”

Despite her resentment toward her mother, Gert is glad that Chase is using a cordial tone that shows concern for Stacey’s well-being.

Gert and Dale get to the room where they’ll be waiting. Gert gestures for Dale to enter first. He does and walks to the center of the room, before turning around to see Gert. She enters and they look at one another, their fondness for one another competing with the awkwardness of the moment in a battle between talking and silence. Dale speaks first: “Your mother and I have missed you tons. I hope that you’re doing well.”

“I am, and how have you been?”

“I’m doing good as well.”

An awkward silence lingers, as they smile shyly at one another. Dale initiates the conversation again: “I hope you don’t mind, but I was wondering if I could give you a hug.”

“Of course,” Gert answers.

They embrace one another and when they separate, all the awkwardness is gone. Gert sees Dale with tears of joy in his eyes.

“So, how are things between you and Chase?”

Gert looks a little embarrassed, but she can’t help but smile from ear to ear. “They’re good. They’re really good,” she says, overwhelmed with joy.

Seeing the happiness on his daughter’s face, Dale can’t help but smile. “That’s good,” he says, “I’m so happy for you. That boy loves you, you know. Tell me all about it.”

As hard as she tries, Gert, can’t find the right words to convey how happy she is. The first thing that comes to mind that makes sense to her is a tangible: “Chase and I got accepted to school in Massachusetts. He’ll be going to MIT, and I’ll be attending Smith.”

“That’s amazing. I know how long you’ve looked forward to attending Smith. If there’s anything your mother and I can do to help, we’ll be glad to do it.”

Gert’s smile fades slightly when she hears her father mention her mother. Dale immediately notices and says: “I’m sorry, I should have been more careful about what I said.”

“No, it’s okay,” says Gert, trying to reassure her father, “How is mom anyway?”

“Oh, you know, your mother and I are busy. We’re currently in phase III clinical trials for a new drug to treat anxiety. Early results looking really good. I’m helping your mother as best I can, but I can’t take too much credit for it: she’s the driving force behind the project. To be honest, sometimes I have to pull her away from the project these days.”

Upon hearing this, Gert understands that the project is her mother’s way to assuage the guilt she feels over using a mind wipe drug on her daughter. She also realizes that her mother hasn’t told her father about using a mind wipe drug on her either. Gert steers the conversation towards small talk and exchanging amusing anecdotes about the past until Nico, Tina, Karolina come out accompanied by Victor.

Gert asks: “So?”

“Everyone’s clear,” Nico answers.


	11. Quiet Storm

Gert and Chase are standing outside the Hostel as Molly is completing her morning exercises. Chase is proudly showing Gert the obstacle course they built and trying to convince her to give it a try.

“Come on Gert, you know what everyone agreed to: we all need to up our game to be ready when danger comes. Plus, Molly and I worked really hard on this.”

Molly opines: “You got that right. Do you know how much time we spent collecting everything we used to build this?”

Gert raises a skeptical brow looking at the makeshift obstacle course outside the Hostel. Chase continues: “I know it doesn’t look like much at the moment, but it’s just an early prototype. Think of it as a first draft. Take Old Lace for a test drive over it and give me your feedback. Anything you’d like to change, just tell me.”

“Chase, this is really sweet, but I really don’t know if it’s such a good idea,” Gert says apprehensively.

Chase wraps his arm around her shoulder and says: “If you’re worried about Old Lace, we went the extra mile to make everything safe for her. Look, there’s padding every place that could be dangerous.”

Molly and Chase take Gert on a tour around the obstacle course, pointing the various challenges they had built and the safety measures they had put in place to ensure Old Lace wouldn’t get injured. They show Gert the platforms separated by gaps or narrow beams, hurdles, ramps, and various obstacles made from salvaged materials. and detail the intent behind each obstacle on the course. Every item, Chase makes sure to mention all the precautions taken to ensure Old Lace’s safety. Nevertheless, Gert looks intimidated. Finally, Chase says: “Come on Gert, I’m sure you’ll be amazing.”

Gert gives Chase a timid smile as she says: “Right now, I really hate your positivity. What if I suck?”

“You’ll never know if you don’t try, and you can practice and improve. I so want to say a bad sports analogy right now.”

Gert smirks and replies: “I’ll try if you don’t say it. Deal?”

“Deal.”

She whistles for Old Lace, who comes running. “Hey girl, I’m going to have to get into your mind to, uh, play. Would you like that?”

Gert closes her eyes and is let into Old Lace’s mind.

“Okay, I’m in,” she says. Old Lace walks slowly through the obstacle course at first, cautiously trying out the safest looking obstacles.

“You’re doing great,” says Chase.

“Chase, I know you mean to come off as encouraging, but right now I’m interpreting it as condescension. You can tell me I suck.”

“Why would I do that? It’s not like I’ve ever driven a dinosaur before. Go at your own pace. Forget the rest.”

Gert decides to risk it and make a running jump over a hurdle. She clears it with ease. She suddenly feels a deep satisfaction. She decides to try the two platforms separated by a gap. As she runs up the ramp to get onto one of the platforms, she thinks to herself: _that must be why Chase likes athletics so much._ This short moment of distraction is enough for Gert to get scared and hesitates a little at the critical moment when she has to decide whether or not to stop or to go for it and jump. Her hesitation made her lose the speed necessary to get to the other side, but she’s already past the point of no return when she tries to stop. Old Lace falls off the platform and crashes down in the gap separating them. Thankfully, the foam mattresses Chase had found and brought back break her fall.

“Are you okay there,” Chase asks.

“Yeah, just got distracted a bit and then I hesitated. I’m going to do this,” Gert replies with determination.

“Of course, you will,” Chase says encouragingly.

Gert then addresses Old Lace: “Sorry, girl, this one’s on me. Can we try again?”

Karolina steps out and enjoys the show. As hesitant as Gert was initially, her ease with handling Old Lace increases by leaps and bounds as her confidence grows. Pretty soon, Gert is trying things without fear of failure. Eventually, Gert focuses the bulk of her efforts on the parts she finds challenging. Karolina walks over to Chase, openly admiring Gert’s rapid progression.

“Hey Chase!”

“Hey Karolina! How are you?”

“Oh, good. I was watching and I have to say that this is all really impressive. I was wondering if you could also give me a hand with my training.”

“Sure thing. What do you need?”

“Well, right now, I’m mainly practicing my how much light I can emit and flying, but I have no idea how much I’m improving or even if I’m improving. Plus, right now, Nico’s issue isn’t power, but control, and I was thinking that maybe I also need to do the same. I’m looking at the obstacle course you built for Gert and Old Lace, and I was wondering if you could help me in my training too.”

“Okay, I can think of a couple of things. One thing we could do to assess your raw power is build you a photometer to measure your output. We could also make targets using photosensors for you to practice your accuracy. Umm, can you manipulate the wavelength of the light you emit? If so, I can think of a sort of game that would help with your mastery of that. Oh, and if you want to practice your flight, I think with some hula hoops and whatever we manage to find to prop them up, we could build you a racecourse. How does that sound?”

“Those all sound like great ideas.”

* * *

Molly wakes up first on a Sunday morning and heads to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal. The rest of the gang soon join her to have breakfast together. The conversation is lively and lighthearted, until Molly innocently asks Gert, in front of everyone, including Alex: “So what was that at dinner the other week? You and Chase weren’t talking to Nico and Karolina at all?”

The conversation suddenly comes to a standstill. Everyone is looking at Gert. Taken by surprise by the question and the sudden attention it brought her, Gert’s face suddenly looks guilty. “Uh, nothing,” she embarrassedly replies. This is certainly not going to go unnoticed by Molly, who knows Gert better than anyone. Alex’s attention is focussed on Gert.

Karolina whispers into Chase’s ear: “Follow my lead.”

Karolina suddenly gets up and yells: “Stay out of it, Molly! What happened was between me and Chase!”

Chase also gets up. “Oh, sure,” he replies, “act like it was all my fault!”

“I didn’t say that, Chase! Maybe for once if you would listen, you would have noticed that!”

“See! You’re doing it again! I thought we were past this!”

“Well, we clearly aren’t!”

Chase and Karolina both storm off and head upstairs. The very real awkwardness between Nico and Gert prevailing in the dining room is now at least somewhat explainable. Gert and Nico both mumble and stammer simultaneously that they should go to their room. They excuse themselves from the table and head upstairs.

Alex asks Molly: “What was that?

“I have no idea. You?”

“Me neither,” says a flabbergasted Alex.

* * *

Chase awaits Gert in their bedroom.

The first thing she says when she closes the door is: “Thanks for the save.”

“Don’t thank me, Karolina came up with it. I just went along.”

“Give yourself some credit. You two really sold it.”

“Thanks, but if it happens again, theatrics won’t help.”

“I know. Everyone hates repeat episodes. We have to tell Molly.”

* * *

Karolina awaits Nico in their bedroom. Nico comes in.

As soon as Nico closes the door, Karolina asks: “Did it work?”

“I think so, yeah. Where did you two learn to act like that? If I hadn’t known it was all fake, I would have believed it.”

“Chase and I spent most of our lives pretending to be something we’re not; we’ve had a lot of practice. At least this time it came in handy as opposed to dysfunctional.”

“Aw, I don’t think it’s dysfunctional; I think it’s functional within a dysfunctional environment. Anyways, it worked this time, but we have to tell Molly, because that was a close call and no amount of acting will be able to pull this off a second time no matter how great it is.”

“I can’t disagree with that. When should we tell her?”

“I’m thinking as early as possible when Alex isn’t around.”

“Works for me.”

* * *

Gert and Chase run into Karolina and Nico. Everyone one had seen Alex duck out early in the morning, as was his usual routine. They all simultaneously say: “We have to tell Molly.”

They go to the dining area waiting for Molly to get up. The discuss the best way to tell Molly. They are all startled when they hear Molly say: “What’s the best way to tell me what?”

Gert is the first one to speak: “Molly, I’m terribly sorry you have to learn like this, but we have something to tell you.”

Molly gets on her guard.

Nico comes forward. “Actually, I should be the one who tells you, since I’m the one who made everyone else promise not to tell you.”

Molly looks at the rest of the gang and says: “You guys knew something and didn’t tell me?”

Karolina says: “We’re sorry, Molly, but we’re trying to tell you now.”

“Well, what is it?” says an irritated Molly.

Nico spills the beans: “Molly, it’s Alex. He’s cursed. That’s why he’s been acting all weird since we rescued him from the Dark Dimension.”

“And you didn’t tell me this because?”

“We didn’t tell you this because cursed individuals will hide in plain sight. The host may not even be aware of what’s happening. They will try to remain hidden until reaching fruition or something, I’m still reading about this. Important thing is, they might be willing to kill anyone whom they think is onto to them. We didn’t tell you because we didn’t want him to know you knew. It’s also super important that cursed individuals not know about one another.”

“Why is that?”

“From what I could gather, something, something, catastrophic consequences. It wasn’t very specific about the how, but quite clear about the outcome.”

“So, since you’re telling me, my guess is you think that I’m not cursed.”

Gert speaks: “We’re sorry, Molly, but the reason we all knew you weren’t cursed is because you’re an open book. And I love that about you.”

“Okay, and I take it that the reason you’re all telling me now is because of what happened yesterday at breakfast.”

“Yes,” Gert confesses.

“So that thing between Karolina and Chase yesterday during breakfast?”

“All an act,” Chase admits.

“How long were you guys planning on not telling me?”

Nico answers: “We had no idea. We were just trying to keep it secret from Alex. When you asked Gert about that evening where why she and Chase weren’t talking to Karolina and myself, the whole thing nearly blew up in our face.”

Gert continues: “The reason there was all this unease between us was that earlier that day, Chase and I had to tell Nico and Karolina what had happened during our trips to the Dark Dimension. That’s where the curse originates from and took hold of Alex. Curses don’t work through outright lie, but by omitting key details, so we had to be questioned about what happened there. Nico had to make sure that nothing had taken hold of myself and Chase while we were over there. She asked us questions about our time there. It forced us to remember some pretty messed up things.”

“Fine. Is there anything else I should know?”

“Yes,” says Nico, “we still don’t know which curse Alex is under yet. We have to find out which one it is in order to counteract it.”

Molly answers: “You know, you could have asked; I’m good at these things. I feel like I’m in a Sherlock Holmes mystery.”

“Molly, this is serious,” Nico chides her.

“I am being serious. We have to find out which curse it is. Do you have any idea how to do that?”

“Well, right now I’m reading _Forensic Sorcery: Principles, Methods, and Incantations_. Doctor Strange told me to focus on that book. I’m looking for something that could help us get some information in there.”

“And what do you have so far?”

“Well, the book makes it pretty clear that forensic sorcery methods only work within the realm in which it is being casted, so unless you guys are willing to go back to the Dark Dimension and try our luck there…”

“No way in hell I’m ever setting foot there again,” Gert says, half fearful half resolute.

Nico replies, unconvinced of her own answer: “Well, that’s where the spell that cursed Alex was casted. It would be the most direct way.”

“What, and risk getting trapped there? We barely managed to escape last time.” Gert insists, scarcely able to believe that Nico would even float such a ridiculous idea.

Chase adds: “Plus, it’s where we sent Morgan, right? If we run into her during our expedition there, there’s no telling what happens. Doing that might open the door for her to break free again and everything we did to get her there gets undone.”

“I agree,” says Karolina, “maybe there’s a way for us to find out from our current dimension instead of going back there.”

“I hope you’re right,” concedes Nico, “I’ll keep reading and get back to everyone. In the meantime, just be careful not to alert Alex.”

* * *

Alex and Cassandra are finishing up a head to head meeting to discuss the progress of project Mancha. So far, everything is proceeding smoothly. All its various sub-projects had gone through approval without a hitch, the various project teams had been formed and early test results are encouraging. Alex had begun querying the Abstract to avoid as many potential technical pitfalls as he could to get the projects off to a running start and they were progressing at a brisk pace.

Cassandra rapidly had proved herself to be an invaluable asset as second in command: while her reserved personality made her ill-suited to be project lead, her knowledgeability and pleasant personality allowed her to rapidly establish herself as a very capable and popular choice for the position. Even if Alex hadn’t been forced by the fact that she had to be kept on board due to her position as the writer of project Mancha, she still would have been an excellent choice, especially given her dedication to the projects.

As he’s about to adjourn the meeting, something inside Alex compels him to ask: “Cassandra, I’ve run into a young man who used to work as an intern over at Corvus handing out those free cell phones you guys used to hand out. Can you tell me anything about him?”

“Well, the duties of the coven did involve supervision over the street teams in charge of cell phone distribution, so it’s possible that I know something about it, but you’ll have to give me more information than that.”

“Well, to be honest, I don’t really know all that much about him. I’ve only met him once. His name was Max, I believe. By the look of things, he seems to have no idea who he is. In fact, I suspect that he had his mind wiped.”

Cassandra gets a look of recognition. “I know of him. Bronwyn would be the one who did that to him: she cursed him with a mind wipe spell. I know about it because she mentioned it to me and because she also brought it up at the team meeting after she did it. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, you know, I ran into him and just got curious. Do you have any idea why she did that to him?”

“Well, if my memory serves me well, she said that she identified him as a potential security leak risk, so she didn’t want to take chances. In reality, I suspect that she was just using that as an excuse to use that spell. She kept talking about trying it out on someone for weeks beforehand.”

“Oh really? What’s so special about that spell?”

“Well, uh, let’s see. It’s designed to keep maintain certain core abilities like speaking and understanding whatever languages they know, reading and writing, technical skills, so on and so forth. However, its greatest use is to completely disorient a person and shatter their sense of self. They lose all trace of the memories that helped mould them into who they are as a person: friendships and acquaintances, formative experiences, personal traumas, you name it. It’s also made to torture them with endless questions about these matters. It’s quite ingenious in its cruelty, it will elicit a sense of recognition whenever they run into someone they used to know, but the answer will always remain just barely out of their grasp. Past users have found that it can be quite useful for turning even the staunchest of enemies into enthusiastic allies: these people are so desperate for information about their past lives that they’re willing to sacrifice anything to get it. If on top of that the user is offered the opportunity to regain their past life or some semblance of it, the offer is irresistible.”

“Oh, okay,” Alex says as he opens the door to his office, “great work, as usual. Keep it up.”


	12. Memories of a vanished future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation into Alex's curse continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It should also be noted that the relationship between cursed individuals may alter at any time: relations of dominance may switch, alliances may dissolve into rivalries and back again. Their volatility makes them all the more dangerous for it. Many experienced investigators were caught unprepared by a sudden shift, putting them in great jeopardy and leading several to their demise. 
> 
> _Forensic Sorcery: Principles, Methods, and Incantations,_ p. 351.

Nico, Karolina, Chase, Gert, and Molly are all gathered around the dining room table in the late morning. They had agreed to meet up periodically during Alex’s absences to make sure everyone was up to speed on developments in their attempts to free Alex from the curse he was under and their overall preparations. At the moment, everyone is empty handed on the Alex investigation front.

“So, what has everyone been up to,” Nico asks.

“I’ve been practicing with Old Lace,” Gert says, before adding “on the obstacle course Chase and Molly built for us,” as she blushes looking at Chase. 

“I’ve started tinkering with the Fistigons again,” Chase says.

“Still training, I feel like I’m going to need an upgrade in my equipment,” Molly says.

“I’ve been practicing with using my powers,” Karolina says, “I did a personal best this morning in my light output and the accuracy tasks.”

Molly turns to Nico: “So, have you found anything?”

“Possibly, yes. There is one spell I learned in _Forensic Sorcery: Principles, Methods, and Incantations_. It’s pretty simple to cast, but I don’t know how useful it would be to us.”

“Well, what is it,” asks Gert.

“It’s a spell that allows someone to travel into the past by tapping into another person’s consciousness. It’s sort of like going through security footage except much more advanced: we not only see what they see, we also hear what they hear; feel what they feel; think what they think. It only works for past events, so we can’t jump ahead to know things in advance. Essentially, the spell takes you back to past events and allows everyone in the circle to relive events exactly as the person being tapped into lived them, so no misremembering or forgetting or anything like that. Those in the circle are also able to communicate with one another and the observer will also remain completely unaware of our presence or whatever we say to one another while observing. The limits are that, like a security camera you’re an entirely passive observer: for example, if the person you’re in happened to be looking in the wrong direction at a critical moment during the event, you won’t be able to make them to look in the right direction. You also only have access at whatever thoughts and feelings were on the observer’s mind during the event as it unfolds, so even if the observer knows something, you won’t have access to it unless they happened to access that knowledge or memory during the moment you’re observing.”

Chase proposes: “Okay, so we can look into Alex’s past and see everything he’s been doing. With a bit of luck, it might also reveal which curse he’s under.”

“Sadly, it doesn’t work that way, Chase,” Nico says, “Firstly, the spell only works on willing participants and there’s no way Alex would be willing. Secondly, only those within the casting circle can be tapped into, and Alex can’t be trusted at the moment, so he can’t be in the circle. It also means that the information that we could gather would also be restricted to something one of us saw, heard, felt, or thought in the past.”

Molly speaks up: “Well, there was a future version of Chase here the night we fought Morgan, right? I mean, we have Chase with us here. So, technically, future Chase was in our past. Maybe we could get into future Chase’s head through current Chase. Maybe he knew something about the curse.”

Nico thinks for a bit, before saying: “Well, I really have no idea if that’s really feasible. I guess it’s worth a try.”

“That’s the spirit,” Karolina tells her.

Gert asks: “Chase how do you feel about it? I mean, it’s pretty intrusive: we’ll know everything you felt and thought that night.”

“It’s fine, Gert. I’m not exactly thrilled at having to relive the night we fought Morgan, but if it allows us to save Alex, then I have to do it.”

“Okay, everyone, hold hands and close your eyes,” Nico says.

They all form a circle and join hands. Nico begins an incantation:

“From the present to the past  
A question asked  
Let us into ourselves  
Where the answer dwells”

They feel themselves get lifted up and transported into past Chase’s body. Next thing they know, they feel a deep sense of confusion as they come to and see future Chase standing over them and saying: “I know it’s confusing, but it’s also painful,” before punching them in the face.

 _Nico,_ says Molly, _we can’t see or hear anything while Chase is unconscious. Could you rewind a bit and pause before we get punched out? I’m beginning to like this future Chase guy a lot less all of a sudden_.

 _On it_ , says Nico as Chase protests Molly’s assessment of future Chase. The rewind gives them the jarring experience of getting punched, or rather, unpunched, in reverse time. Nico pauses just before future Chase begins speaking. _Okay, let me see if I can change observer so we’re into future Chase,_ she says.

All of a sudden, they change perspective and are standing over past Chase. They all think future Chase’s thoughts: _I’m really sorry I have to do this, but I don’t have time to talk and I know there’s no way you’re just going to hand over the Fistigons to me_. They hear themselves talking: “I know it’s confusing, but it’s also painful.” They punch past Chase out and take the Fistigon.

They sneak their way downstairs, hide, and wait for Gert to show up for the salt to contain Morgan’s magic. During all this time, they pump themselves up so that they don’t feel too nervous. They know it’s a one-way trip and fear begins taking a hold of them. They think: _I’ve been preparing ten years for this chance. I’m going to need to convince Gert to let me take her place to lay down the salt around Morgan. I wonder which will be harder, convincing Gert or laying down the salt. Gert can be so stubborn._ Suddenly, they see Gert walk into the room to get the salt. Their heart skips a beat when they see her and they immediately realize how in love they still are with Gert. Seeing her brings a mixture of unmitigated joy and unbearable loss, bolstering their resolve to carry out their mission: close the salt circle themselves, keep Gert safe, no matter the cost. They step out of hiding and ask: “Mind if I step in?”

“Pirates of Penance,” Gert asks with obvious confusion.

“I would love to explain, but I’m here to save your life,” they plead.

“I don’t need you to save me,” Gert answers. _Please_ , they think, _it all fell apart without you, let me do something to fix it._

“No, you don’t.”, they hear themselves saying “You’re willing to die for what you believe in, die for your friends. That’s what happens when you go out there.”

Feeling they owe her an explanation, they continue: “We’ve all had to live without Gert Yorkes. It’s not a life worth living. If we can change the world for the better, we should. You taught me that. So please, I am begging you, just stay here.”

The look of confusion on Gert’s face transforms into one of saddened recognition. They feel an odd thrill, knowing they may just succeed in saving Gert. Through a doorway, they see Karolina get knocked on her back in the main hall. They continue: “Okay, I have to go.”

“Wait, but… Morgan?” Gert objects.

“It’s okay. We win, Gert. Because of you. We always win,” they say, unable to conceal their deep admiration.

They see Molly get thrown into a wall. Morgan is unable to resist the urge to gloat: “I do wish you’d listened to me. It would have been much easier for us all. But then, I probably should have expected as much. You’re just a bunch of stupid pathetic children.” _Wow_ , they think, _Morgan really likes the sound of her own voice. Gert had her pegged. Once Gert got to talking, Morgan never stood a chance_. 

They make their entrance: “But we aren’t children, are we,” they say. _Good,_ they think, _I have her attention. Now all I need is to misdirect her like Gert did when she closed the circle._ They continue: “Not anymore. Because adults like you took that away from us.” They take advantage of the fact they’re eye to eye with Morgan to open the mechanism latched onto their ankle to release the salt discretely. They think, _now all I have to do is keep her in conversation long enough_. They continue: “Always making decisions in our best interests. Even if that means lying or hiding the truth. Is it any surprise that we don’t listen to a word that you say?” _50% done_ , they think as they circle around Morgan, _come on Morgan, just take the bait_.

Morgan is having none of it. She answers: “If this is the place where we have to pause the action to listen to the moving speech about how evil I am, let’s just skip that part, shall we?” _Dammit, this isn’t going to work. Only Gert would be able to pull this off with only her words. What was I even thinking?_ They recoil in fear as Morgan begins casting a spell. Thankfully, future Nico is there providing a protection spell for them.

Morgan looks confused: “What happened? Shielding spell?” They think: _Maybe_ _I can’t do what Gert did, only she could do that, but I have backup_.

They hear Alex’s voice, guiding Morgan to the source of Chase’s protection: “It’s Nico! From up there!” _Dammit Alex,_ they think, _why do you have to be so relentless in wanting to kill us? I know you resent me and the rest of the gang, but Gert never did anything to you, and these versions of Molly, Karolina, and Nico were your friends._

Molly emerges from behind Alex and knocks him unconscious. _Wait, there were other versions of us there too_ , says Molly.

 _I know_ , says Nico, _we’ll get to them next. First, let’s see if future Chase can give us anything_.

Gert feeling distressed by what she knows is going to take place, intervenes: _I know what happens next. Believe me, I saw it the first time, you’ll get no information: this is where future Chase dies. I don’t want to go through this again. Can we please change observer now?_

 _Okay_ , says Nico, noticing that Gert seems on the verge of a panic attack, _who should we go into then?_

Molly volunteers.

They hop into future Molly. Molly addresses the rest of the gang: _I think whatever happened did so before I knocked Alex out. I think I got the drop on him, but not soon enough. I must have been watching him before and he slipped away until I caught up with him again_.

Nico rewinds until they reach the moment their future selves arrive at the Hostel. They see everyone in the gang except Gert gathered together, discussing the plan. Alex takes advantage of a moment of inattention on everyone’s part to pull away from the rest of the group, knowing full well that they can’t risk exposing themselves. _That slippery bastard_ , they think, _always plotting. I’ll get my hands on him, and once I do, he’s not going to be slipping away again._ Molly follows Chase and heads upstairs to a tucked away corner where she has a vantage point of the entire main hall. They are soon joined by Karolina and then Nico.

“We’re getting our asses kicked,” they say.

“Should we step in,” Karolina asks.

Chase insists that they wait. They see past Chase get knocked into a wall by a spell from one of Morgan’s followers. Chase asks for cover to go get the Fistigons before departing.

They and Nico spot Alex by his old computer.

“What’s he up to,” asks Nico.

“I got him,” they say, determined to collar Alex. They sneak around to the kitchen area: it’s the perfect place to lie in ambush for the only place Alex could slink away to. By the time they see Alex again, he’s already standing in the doorframe between the main hall and dining room, looking at what’s happening between Chase and Morgan. Before they manage to catch up to him, he says “It’s Nico! From up there!” _That rat bastard!_

They hold back from going full force when bashing Alex’s head into the doorframe, easily knocking him out, but too late, not only did Alex get to warn Morgan, but Morgan has spotted them and looks confused. She clearly suspects something. They run back to cover. _Well_ , Gert says nervously, _that leaves Nico and Karolina. Who goes next?_

“I guess I will,” answers Karolina.

They tap into Karolina and go back to the moment immediately following Molly leaving with Chase. The future versions of Karolina and Nico see younger versions of themselves and hide. They feel a sense of discomfort as they are forced to hear a familiar conversation between their younger self and Nico while waiting for them to move on.

“Hey, uh, look, I know this isn’t exactly the right moment,” Nico says, “but we might be running out of time. I know we haven’t seen eye to eye since Morgan came into our lives, but, um, like, you know, I’ve disappointed you. And I’ve really scared you, and I almost lost you, but you’ve never given up on me. Just wanted you to know that, um, I’ve noticed.” They feel Karolina’s heartbreak and regret.

“I never will give up on you. Everything’s gonna be okay. I promise” Karolina answers. Their heartbreak deepens: _everything did not turn out okay_ , they think. They feel a deep shame at not having lived up to their promises, and they feel trapped by a promise they made to Julie that they now wish they hadn’t made. The only way to uphold the promise they broke would be to break the promise that they had managed to uphold. Leslie calls the younger Karolina upstairs. Future Nico excuses herself and leaves despite their plea for her to stay.

They head upstairs as originally planned and meet up with the future versions of Chase and Molly. Future Nico materializes next to her not long after. They and Molly look on with concern at their younger selves holding on for dear life, clearly overmatched by Morgan. Every fiber in their being tells them to intervene on their younger selves’ behalf, but Chase insists they let events play out the same as before. Despite knowing that it’s the right call, they don’t feel right about it. Soon, Chase leaves to retrieve the Fistigons after seeing his younger self. Molly and Nico spot Alex and wonder what he’s doing. Molly goes off to retrieve him, leaving them and Nico. They see Nico focusing on Alex, wondering what he’s doing. They turn their own attention entirely on the entrance from the magic room into the main hall, waiting for Chase to emerge. When he does, they gently touch Nico’s shoulder and say: “Chase is here, he’s going to need that shield.”

Nico begins an incantation, and they nervously look on, hoping to go unneeded and unnoticed. Morgan blasts Chase with her darkness. Nico’s barrier is holding up. Morgan wonders what’s going on. Alex points them out. They shoot out a beam of light to counter Morgan’s dark beam. _I couldn’t be there for you then, but I’m here for you now,_ they think, their every thought focused on holding on for as long as possible. Soon, they find themselves projected backward and out of commission.

 _Well, I guess there’s only me left_ , says Nico, disappointed at their failure to find what they were looking for.

 _Okay_ , answers Molly, _we still have two gaps to fill: where you went when you left Karolina, and what you saw when you were looking at Alex after I left to catch him_.

They switch observer into future Nico and go back to immediately after hearing the conversation between her younger self and Karolina, as Nico leaves Karolina to follow her past self. They feel deep regret coupled with a clear sense of purpose. _I have to change how things went down_ , they think. They follow the younger version of Nico into the garage.

“But you didn’t really believe her, did you?”, they say. _How come I don’t remember any of this_ , Nico asks.

Her younger self wonders if she’s hallucinating or if it’s one of Morgan’s tricks.

They respond: “No it’s, um, it’s… time travel.” They cringe internally at their response. They know they shouldn’t be doing this; it goes against every rule and common sense. Nico’s younger self seems at least receptive to what they have to say now.

Their younger self is only concerned with practical issues, like the staff, surviving, and defeating Morgan. They have to calm her down for her to hear them out.

“I’m breaking so many rules right now,” They say. They think: _for Karolina, I’d break every rule_. They continue: “I need to tell you something. Something that’s more important than Morgan or the staff. I know what’s going through your mind. You think that you can’t have it all, right? That you have to choose. Strength versus love. Darkness or light. That the only way to protect those you love is to leave them. And I think I made a mistake in this moment so… just stay and fight. Believe the way that Karolina believes. With your whole heart. Let her lead you into something better. That’s what love is. And I think, knowing what I know now, it’s way more powerful than magic.” They know that they can’t have her younger self be too distracted by everything they just told her when she faces Morgan, so they erase past Nico’s memory of the event save for a vague impulse to stay and fight for Karolina as they dissipate and reappear upstairs alongside Karolina, Chase and Molly.

Chase heads off to find the Fistigons.

“What’s he up to?” they ask as they see future Alex by his computer.

“I got him,” answers Molly before heading off.

They remain fixated on Alex. They see him doing something. _That sneaky bastard_ , Nico says, _what’s he doing?_

They feel Karolina touch their shoulder and say: “Chase is here, he’s going to need that shield.”

 _Nico, could you go back to when you were looking at Alex and pause it,_ Chase asks.

Nico complies.

 _It looks like_ _he’s writing something,_ Gert comments.

 _What could he be writing,_ Molly asks.

Nico and Gert simultaneously arrive at the same conclusion: _he’s leaving a note for himself_.

They all emerge back in the current time, everyone except Gert embarrassed to have had their entire selves laid bare for others. Noticing everyone's discomfort Gert takes charge: “Everyone, we need to focus. We have to find that note future Alex left for his past self, ASAP.”

“What if he got rid of it?” Chase asks.

“Alex doesn’t get rid of anything. Do you know how old some of his gaming consoles are? He held on to a gun that could be used to incriminate him. He has it somewhere,” Nico says.

“Okay, but we can’t just turn his place upside down, he’ll know that we looked in there,” Molly says.

“Right,” Nico says as they approach Alex’s desk. Nico slaps her hands together as she says: “Reveal!” A white light slowly flows outward in an arc as she separates her hands, palms facing out as she motions her arms until they are extended to her sides. At first, the light expands in all directions away from Nico, until part of it reaches a drawer in the desk, at which point it all starts flowing into the drawer. Everyone’s gaze is drawn to the drawer. Nico cautiously pulls it open. They see the light disappearing along the edges of the drawer’s bottom. Nico empties the drawer’s contents and discovers that it has a false bottom. She opens it and sees a note. They all read it together:

  1. Infiltrate Wilder Innovators
  2. Hide Mancha
  3. Kill Nico



They all look at one another after reading it.

“Okay,” Chase says while looking at Nico, “Alex works for Wilder Innovators and he instructed himself to kill you.”

“By the looks of it, that last item must have been especially important to him since he underlined it,” Gert adds.

“What do we do now,” Molly asks.

“We need to find out who Mancha is,” Nico asserts.

“We don’t even have any idea how to do that,” Gert says despairingly.

“Then we better get to thinking about how to do that, do you have any helpful suggestions, Gert,” Karolina snaps.

“Okay everyone, calm down.” Chase says, “Coach Alphona used to say: TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More.”

His remark is greeted with a collective eyeroll. He says: “I’m sorry, bad sports analogy.”

“It’s okay, Chase, you have a point,” Karolina says.

“Yeah, I hate to admit it,” Gert adds.

“Okay,” says Molly, “for now nothing changes with Alex: he still can’t know that we know. So he can’t know we were in here.”

“Right,” says Nico. She makes hand gestures and a bright sigil appears in mid-air as she says: “Return!”

The contents of the drawer all return in their original place before they opened the drawer and the drawer shuts itself. They all look at Nico, impressed. She gives Karolina a smile, as she continues: “Okay, so we better start thinking about ways to find out who Mancha is, because we’re working in the dark right now.”


	13. Spy Versus Spy

Gert and Chase decide to go out for a walk in the evening. As usual, their handholding draws stares from passerby surprised to see what, at first glance, would seem like a mismatched couple, together. While they had found it a little bothersome and intrusive at first, they had since grown so accustomed to getting looks from strangers that it no longer bothers them. If they notice someone staring at them nowadays, they often exchange a knowing smirk with one another.

As they walk, they make small talk, flirting and joking with one another, enjoying each other’s company. Out of the blue, Gert blurts out: “I’m sorry for freaking out earlier when we were all going through the night that we fought Morgan.” Clearly, this had been on her mind for some time before she said it and was no longer able to keep it inside.

“Gert, you don’t ever need to apologize for that,” he says is a tone that is both soothing and surprised that she would feel the need to apologize.

“Thanks,” she says, “I just want to explain.” She pauses to gather her thoughts. Chase notices and knows her well enough to know to let her take her time to formulate in her head the best way to express what she has on her mind.

Gert appreciates that he doesn’t rush her, which makes it easier for her to open up. “I saw the future version of you die,” she says.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t actually see what Morgan did to him, I was unconscious when it happened, but I know enough to know that I don’t want to know anything more about that. When I came to, Morgan was gone, and he was lying on the floor, bleeding to death,” she says, still clearly upset by the memory.

Chase holds her hand a little tighter and gives her a look of concern.

Gert continues: “You weren’t there to see it because you were still upstairs, but when I went over to him and cradled him, he looked so relieved, happy even. Like he was the one providing me with comfort when he was the one dying. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

Chase thinks for a while before responding. “I think, maybe, he wanted you to know that everything was going to be alright.”

They arrive at a vacant bench and decide to sit down and enjoy the gorgeous view of the city. They sit, snuggled up together, in silence for several minutes, blissfully admiring the sunset over Los Angeles and enjoying the pleasant breeze against their skin.

Gert speaks: “There’s something else you need to know. I never told anyone this, but I met the future version of you before the night we fought Morgan.” She pauses and looks at Chase to make sure he is paying proper attention. He is so enraptured with her and what she is saying that nothing else seems to matter. The way he looks at her gives her goosebumps. She continues: “It was the day before we discovered our parents killing that girl over at Alex’s house. It happened at Atlas Academy. Brandon and Lucas were bullying me over this club I was trying to start.”

“Undermining the Patriarchy. I remember,” Chase says.

“Yeah. Anyways, they were telling me how no one was going to come to my sad girl club and that they’d be sad too if they looked like me. He interrupted the conversation and said that he thought that I was beautiful.” Gert gets a little choked up as she continues: “I can’t tell you how much that meant to me, to have someone stand up for me at that moment.” She pauses to regain her composure.

Chase takes her hand in his and the warmth feels so good that Gert immediately begins to relax. He says: “I’m sorry I didn’t stand up for you back then. I should have. Brandon and Lucas were my friends, but truth be told, I didn’t even like them even back when they were my friends.”

“I know,” Gert replies, “but that’s not the point. The way he looked at me, it was like he could see me for who I was and didn’t just tolerate it, which was pretty much the best I could generally expect over at Atlas, but actually accepted and loved me for it.” Gert starts giggling softly and says: “Then I asked about the outfit he was wearing and his appearance and scar. He looked flustered and came up with these terrible, obvious lies about auditioning for a part in Pirates of Penance.”

“Wasn’t it Penzance,” Chase asks. He then takes on a mock offended facial expression and continues, humorously: “Besides, I could have been auditioning. There are layers to me, I’ll have you know.”

She looks at him lovingly and says softly: “I know.” She caresses his cheek. “The way he talked to me and looked at me, the way he knew about my anxiety, I should have figured it out, but who would have, really? I mean, time travel. Crazy, right? Then I saw you again at Atlas and you were back to your regular self as if nothing had happened, because to you, nothing had happened. It only started to make sense to me when he showed up again, the night we fought Morgan. The way he looked at me that night, the way _you_ looked at me, I just knew that you were going to lay down your life even before you’d stepped out of the magic room. Now that I’ve seen it through his eyes, I know that he spent ten years planning to fix things. He knew that he was probably going to die or at least that there was a good chance that he would, and he didn’t seem to mind that much. And I don’t think that’s right. Your life has just as much value as mine.”

“Gert, it…”

Gert cuts him off: “I know what you’re going to say: that it wasn’t you. But it was you, or at least it was a possible version of you. I guess that what I’m trying to say is that… you matter to me and I don’t ever want to see you get hurt, even if it is to protect me. Do you understand?”

Chase looks at her solemnly and gives her a nod. “I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you,” says Gert. She leans in for a soft kiss that he gladly returns, and she rests her head on his shoulder as they watch the city lights come on as the skies darken.

Chase’s cell phone notifies him of an incoming text message. It’s from Max: “Hi, wondering when you guys would be free to get together.”

* * *

Nico is sitting in her and Karolina’s bedroom, reading a book from her still extensive reading pile, when Karolina comes in, drying her hair with a towel after taking a shower. As Karolina is looking in the mirror, she sneaks a peek at Nico’s reflection. She notices Nico looking at her the way she does when something’s bothering her, and she wants to talk about it. Karolina immediately knows that it’s about what they experienced when they went back in time. She turns around and looks at Nico.

“What is it,” Karolina asks with concern.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just thinking about what we discovered during our trip in the past,” she says. She hesitates, before continuing: “I guess I’m still struggling to think that there’s a version of events where I left you, although I know that there were times during that night with Morgan and a little beforehand where I was thinking about it.” she says, feeling like she needs to apologize for breaking Karolina’s heart in an alternate future.

“Nico, I understand.”

“I know you do,” a choked-up Nico answers, “I’m just… such a fuck-up. I nearly destroyed the best thing I ever had. And the thought of losing you, it scares me so much.”

“Nico, you don’t need to feel that way about it. In fact, the way I look at it, everything did turn out fine. We’re here. Together.”

“Just as you promised,” Nico says.

“Just as I promised. And also because you saw to that. You said it yourself. ‘Believe like Karolina believes.’ Well, when are you going to start trusting in yourself like I trust in you,” Karolina gently chides Nico. She takes Nico’s hand in hers and continues: “And if it’s that you’re scared of losing me, you know that losing you is my worst fear too. I told you my nightmare in the Dark Dimension: losing you to the darkness. In the Abstract, I told you what I saw. Even though I knew it wasn’t real, the scenario it portrayed is my worst fear. Just like knowing that you’re watching a horror movie doesn’t mean it’s not scary, knowing that it wasn’t really you that was dying still drew the emotions.” She locks eyes with Nico, who is speechless at the warmth, love, and beauty in Karolina’s blue eyes. Nico finally understands what her future self meant when she said that love was way more powerful than magic, because at this point, no magic spell could ever make her believe like what Karolina makes her believe with her words: “I love you Nico. There’s so much to yourself that you don’t see. Your friends see it. I see it.” Karolina smiles warmly as she concludes: “And one day, you’ll see it too.”

Nico’s outlook goes from fearing loss to looking forward to a future together. She feels reassured and slightly silly for having had doubts. _It’s Karolina, of course she’s going to come through_ , Nico thinks. She gives Karolina a slightly embarrassed smile.

Karolina’s heart melts on the spot. She would kiss her right then and there, but things would heat up quickly, and she would lose herself in the moment and forget to mention what she had been thinking of regarding Mancha just prior to entering the room: “Now chin up, we still need to find out about Mancha. I was thinking of ways we could go about it. We can’t risk exposing ourselves. If we suddenly start popping up in Alex’s everyday life in places we don't normally belong, he’s going to know that something’s up. Right now, our main advantage is that he doesn’t know how much we know. We can’t let it go to waste.”

“You’re right, we can’t,” Nico says. She thinks for a short while and cringes at the solution. She looks into Karolina’s eyes and knows that they’re both thinking the same thing. Nico continues: “But maybe there are people who might normally pop up in his everyday life that could keep an eye out and be able to tell us if they see something suspicious. I just really hate the idea to my very core.”

“Nico, we have to tell Geoffrey what’s happening with his son. Your mother would want to know if something were wrong with you. Mine too, if something were wrong with me. He has to know.”

“I know you’re right. I just can’t help but feel like I’m ruining their happiness by telling them how they’ve been dragged into this situation that I contributed to create. And also, that I’m putting him and everyone else we tell in harm’s way. I think with Darius and Catherine’s deaths, that family’s been through enough.”

Karolina looks lovingly at Nico. _Nico cares so much_ , Karolina thinks. She calmly states: “Nico, they’re already in harm’s way right now. We have to inform them. We tried not telling Molly to keep her safe and it almost backfired. Geoffrey is grateful to have his son back, and I’m sure that he’ll be much happier if we manage to break the curse on Alex. If he believes us, you know he’ll insist on doing everything he can do to help.”

Nico acquiesces: “I know. It’s just that every part of me is dreading doing it. It seems that Alex and his father have begun mending fences, and that’s good for them, right?” Karolina nods. Nico continues: “Alex has also begun dating Livvie again. As weird as it sounds, I’m glad that it’s going well between them. Alex deserves some normalcy in his life after everything he’s been through. But Livvie has to know. Tamar too.” Nico turns to Karolina: “How do we do this without it being devastating?”

“I don’t think that there’s a pleasant way to do this. I think it’s best if we all do it together. Geoffrey will find it easier to accept it if every one of us is there to tell him. If he does, he’ll surely be on board to help us save Alex. Tamar and Livvie would probably be on board too.” Karolina says.

Nico leans into Karolina and puts her head on her shoulder. Karolina’s warm embrace reassures Nico beyond words.

“Nico, I know this is really difficult, but you’re doing great. Everything we know so far is in no small part thanks to you.”

“Thanks. I couldn’t do this without you.”

“You’re welcome. You can always count on me,” Karolina says as she leans in closer and kisses Nico, gently at first, then soon after passionately.

* * *

Livvie and Alex are walking home at the end of a date. Being out of the Hostel in different company allowed Alex to finally feel relaxed. The past week had been especially difficult for him: he kept looking over his shoulder when he was at the Hostel, feeling a strong sense of paranoia over something that he couldn’t quite put a finger on. A voice in his head kept telling him that everyone there was plotting against him, even Molly. Whenever anyone addressed him, he felt on the defensive. He had even checked if the note was still in its place to make sure and it still was, but it barely gave him any reprieve from the creeping doubts gnawing away at him.

Livvie and Alex had had dinner with Tamar and Geoffrey earlier that evening, then stepped out to an outdoor concert. Dinner had been a pleasant experience, as usual: Geoffrey’s sheer joy at having his son visit always put him in such an infectious good mood that anyone around him couldn’t help but be cheerful.

“I had a really good time,” says Livvie.

“I had a good time too,” answers Alex, genuinely smiling.

Alex notices that something seems to be on Livvie’s mind. He asks: “Is something wrong? It looks like something's bothering you.”

Livvie gives him a look that confirms his suspicions.

“Aren’t you happy?” Alex says.

“No, there’s nothing wrong in that sense,” Livvie answers, “We always have a good time when we’re together and it makes me want something more with you. Right now, I don’t know if it’s headed anywhere because I have the feeling that there’s something that you’re not telling me. I really like you, Alex and the last thing I need is to fall for someone who’s unavailable, emotionally or otherwise.”

Alex gets uncomfortable. He doesn’t quite know how to answer Livvie’s statement. So far, everything with Livvie has been great and he would like to have a serious relationship with her. He also knows that a denial from him will only reinforce her assessment that there’s something he’s not telling her and possibly put the relationship in jeopardy.

“It’s true,” he admits, “It’s just that I’m not ready to talk about it yet. With anyone.”

“Don’t you think that you should at least talk about it with someone? Keeping things inside like that is really unhealthy.”

“I know. I promise you’ll be the first person I tell when I’m ready.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Livvie answers playfully. They arrive at the spot where they usually parted ways when he went to the Hostel and she went back home. “Looks like we’re here,” she says.

“Looks like,” Alex replies with a nervous smile.

They kiss each other goodbye.

“Good night, Alex.”

“Good night, Livvie.”

Alex and Livvie go their separate ways, Alex with a dumb smile on his face, still thinking about the kiss with Livvie. He sees Gert, Chase, and Max from a distance. Suddenly, Alex’s face turns dead serious. He doesn’t understand why, but he feels an irresistible compulsion. He hides and watches the interaction between Gert, Max, and Chase. Finally, they go their separate ways: Gert and Chase head back to the Hostel and Max, to wherever he lives.

Something inside Alex compels him to follow Max. He does so, from a distance, taking great care not to be noticed. Finally, Max arrives home, unsuspecting of the fact that he’s been followed the entire way. Alex takes note of his address. Suddenly, the impulse to follow Max relents, and he decides to head back to the Hostel, not quite understanding what urge took over him.

Alex comes back to the Hostel. He walks past a reading Nico without noticing her and gets startled when he hears her greet him: “Hi Alex.”

“Oh, hi Nico,” he replies, panting, “you almost gave me a heart attack. Don’t startle me like that.”

“Oh. Sorry. You’re home late,” she says, closing her book.

“Yeah, went for a walk after my date with Livvie.”

“Really? Where did you go for your walk?”

“Oh, nowhere in particular. Just needed some fresh air.”

“Why? Did you get into an argument with Livvie?”

“No, no nothing like that.” Alex decides to misdirect Nico with the truth: “Livvie would like for her and I to get serious, but she’s having doubts.”

“It’s good news that she wants to get serious. What is she having doubts about?”

“She says that things are going well between us, but that she doesn’t want to get involved with someone who’s unavailable.”

“And what do you think?”

“I… told her that I’d need some time to feel comfortable telling her everything. Do you think I screwed things up?”

“I don’t think so, but if you’re saying that as a way to keep her on the hook…”

“I’m not,” Alex interrupts.

“Good,” says Nico.

“Listen, it’s getting pretty late…”

“Sure, no problem, good night Alex.”

“Good night, Nico.”

They each head to their room. Nico closes the door to her room. She sees Karolina. The neutral facial expression Nico had managed to keep around Alex fades away and she says quietly: “I know Alex is hiding something. I hate that I don’t know what it is.”


	14. Arrivals & Departures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico & the gang tell Geoffrey about Alex
> 
> Nico has another delightful visit with Doctor Strange
> 
> Gert and Chase depart for university

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The optimal mode of administering Ramavizir is counted among the primary questions that this clinical trial aims to answer. Among the various modalities we have thus far assessed, the transdermal patch being developed in collaboration with Wilder Innovators appears to offer the best combination of rapid action and long-lasting relief of anxiety symptoms.
> 
> Dale and Stacey Yorkes, _Phase III Ramavizir clinical trials progress report_

Geoffrey, Tamar and Livvie had gathered at Tamar’s house to meet up with the Runaways to discuss what was happening with Alex. Nico had been careful not to be too cryptic nor too revealing over the phone regarding the reason why they needed to meet. Geoffrey had been a little surprised to see everyone show up, but was still happy to see them. Following warm greetings, everyone sat down in Tamar’s living room.

“So,” says Tamar, “You gathered everyone here today because there was something you needed to tell us about Alex. What is it?”

Nico gets up and feels pretty hesitant about having to speak: “Uhm, yeah, uh, I really don’t know how to say this. I don’t even know where to begin to be honest,” she says nervously.

Karolina decides to step up: “We’re all here because we’re concerned about Alex.”

Emboldened, Nico continues: “Okay, so I first learned about this when I started training to master my magic. I met with Doctor Strange and told him about the staff I have that used to belong to my mother.”

“I remember it,” says Geoffrey.

“Good. So I learned that the staff is a cursed item that attracts danger to those I care about. I can’t use it as I had in the past because doing so would only put everyone in greater danger. I am currently working on getting rid of it, which tricky since it is bound to me right now and it’s seeking to free itself. He instructed us to keep an eye out for dangers so we could be better prepared for them when they come, and we now know that Alex is cursed. We looked into the past and saw a time travelling version of himself from the future leave a note for his current self. We found the note. It said three things: to infiltrate Wilder Innovators, to hide Mancha, and to kill me.”

Geoffrey, Livvie, and Tamar sit on the couch, stunned at the news.

“It’s a lot to take in, I know. I’m sorry,” Nico says. Karolina puts her hand on Nico’s shoulder.

“Alex is in danger,” asks Geoffrey.

“Yes,” says Nico, feeling guilty for the situation despite understanding that it wasn’t all her fault.

“Well, go on,” says Geoffrey, avid for more information.

“We wanted to talk to all of you for two reasons. The first is to let you all know about the curse, so you know how to handle yourselves around Alex. We don’t think Alex knows that he’s cursed. Right now, the curse hiding inside Alex will do anything to avoid being detected, including resorting to violence if it suspects that someone is onto them. It will also cause him to hide things related to its plans to other people.”

“Are you sure Alex is cursed,” asks Geoffrey, not wanting to believe it.

Nico doesn’t quite know how to respond.

“We know for a fact that Alex is hiding things from us,” Gert states. “We all saw the note. He had hidden it. It was in Alex’s handwriting. Believe us, we also wish it weren’t true, but unfortunately it is.”

“It can’t be real. It can’t be,” a distressed Geoffrey says, “I see him at work and when he comes over for dinner. He doesn’t seem to be lying to me.”

Seeing Nico on the verge of falling apart, Karolina intervenes: “That’s because somewhere in there, he’s still Alex. The curse generally won’t make him say outright lies. Instead, it’s more that Alex will fail to disclose important details.”

Geoffrey continues protesting, not wanting to believe until Livvie intervenes: “I think it’s true. I can tell that there’s something that Alex isn’t telling me. He even confirmed it when I told him that I thought he wasn’t being open with me.”

Nico addresses Livvie: “That reminds me, Livvie, he came home pretty late the other night after your date. He said he took a walk after your date. Do you have any idea where he went?”

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea,” answers Livvie.

Geoffrey, looking resigned, asks Nico: “How long has Alex been cursed for?”

Nico responds: “It happened at some point during the time he went missing for six months. As far as we know, he’s been cursed at least since we managed to bring him back here. This brings me to the second reason why we’re telling you this. None of us were there to see it happen, so we still don’t know which curse Alex is under. We need to find out which one, so we know how to counter it and free Alex from it.”

As Nico talks, Geoffrey’s facial expression changes from distraught to determined and focussed. “Sure thing. Anything you need,” he says. 

“What we need right now is information. If Alex does anything unusual or offers any clue that might give us an idea about the curse he’s under, we’ll need to know it. We also asked for your help because none of us knows a thing about Mancha. We thought that maybe one of you might have an idea what it’s about.”

Geoffrey, Tamar, and Livvie look at one another questioningly, then look at Nico and collectively shake their head.

“Okay, so we need you to help us find out what’s happening with Alex so we can help him.”

“Help him? You’re telling me that we have someone who might slit our throats in our sleep come over here weekly,” says Tamar, “I have a child to take care of. If something happens to us, Xerxes will grow up without his family.”

Molly speaks up: “The danger was already there. We just made you aware of it. They tried keeping it a secret from me and it almost led to Alex finding out how much they knew. Anyone who found out somehow that something was wrong with Alex in his presence would be in danger. We told you the way we did so that wouldn’t happen.”

“Do as I do,” Chase says, “play dumb.”

“That still doesn’t change that Alex is a threat,” responds Tamar, “I can’t have that around my child.”

Gert replies: “Do as you wish, of course, we can’t tell you how to act. However, if something changes, Alex might suspect something, and if he does, he might become a threat.”

Geoffrey turns to Tamar. He pleads: “Please, Tamar. If I’d known, I never would have invited him over to your place. But he’s my son. I want him as part of my life. You saw how I was when Alex went missing. I can’t go through that again.”

As much as she has serious misgivings about having Alex around, Tamar is unable to find it within herself to refuse Geoffrey.

“Thank you,” says Geoffrey, genuinely grateful.

* * *

Nico walks through the portal for her lesson with Doctor Strange.

“Ah, you’re here. At least, you’re punctual although I really have to question my predilection for punctuality when I see _you_ arrive on time. I imagine that I’m going to, again, have to rescue you from the consequences of your own actions, Ms. Minoru. I find it quite bothersome. Are you learning anything?” says Doctor Strange to greet Nico.

“Yes, I am,” says Nico Minoru, clearly also learning to let Doctor Strange’s insults roll off her like water off a duck’s back.

“Really? You will have to show me. Last I saw you, you were looking quite hopeless,” he answers nonchalantly. He begins quizzing Nico for over two hours straight on matters for which she had read. His facial expression remains stoic throughout, making it impossible to determine his thoughts. Finally, Doctor Strange says: “Final question for today: name me three different classification of spells, explain what the classification is as well as their strength and drawbacks.”

“Sustained spells are spells where the caster must continually cast the spell for as long as necessary. These spells will stop as soon as the caster stops. Their main advantage is that they allow for a greater level of control by the caster. Their main disadvantage is that they require the caster’s undivided attention during spellcasting. Triggered spells are cast on living beings. They can be cast rapidly, thereby allowing the caster to move onto other matters. These spells will remain dormant and only fully activate when the target person encounters the trigger. The trigger will typically be something designed to elicit a strong emotional reaction from the target. Their main drawback is that the target may never encounter the trigger and therefore the spell may never take effect. Transformative spells produce a permanent effect and do not require the caster’s attention to maintain the effect. For instance, making an object go from intact to broken. Their main appeal is that if cast successfully, they have fairly predictable outcomes. Their main drawback is that they can demand an exchange: the more powerful the spell, the greater the tribute demanded in return. If the tribute offered for the spell is insufficient, the spell will have unpredictable effects: it may falter altogether, have unintended consequences, or take something valuable from the caster to balance out the scales.”

Doctor Strange raises an eyebrow. “I suppose congratulations are in order: Ms. Minoru, you may not be as completely hopeless as I had previously thought after all.”

Nico smiles. She says: “Oh, and I have some things to ask about my particular, uh, situation.”

“Oh dear, you’re about to lay more problems at my door, aren’t you?”

“Uh, I’m afraid so, yes” she says.

“Oh, go ahead,” Doctor Strange says in a tone clearly intended to convey that he’s doing Nico an enormous favour.

“So, I checked everyone else who went with us in the Dark Dimension except Alex to determine if they were cursed or not. Turns out everyone else is clean. I told them about the curse on Alex. None of us really knew much about it.”

“Why does none of this surprise me,” says an exasperated Doctor Strange.

“Okay, so I cast a spell to look into the past at the night we defeated Morgan Le Fay. We tapped into the future version of Chase to see if there might be any evidence regarding which curse Alex was under. It turns out that Chase wasn’t the only one who time travelled to that night. There were future versions of everyone except Gert present too. We managed to inhabit the future versions of ourselves to get information.”

“Keep going, I haven’t grown bored yet,” says Doctor Strange as he muses to himself: _Hmmm, that’s an interesting use of a witnessing spell_.

“Okay,” Nico continues, “the future version of myself saw the future version of Alex leave a note for his present-day self. We managed to track it down. The note instructed him to do three things: to infiltrate Wilder Innovators, which is where he’s working right now, to hide Mancha, which we have no idea what it’s about, and to kill me.”

“And what have you done with this information,” Doctor Strange asks as he’s deep in thought. 

“Well, up to now, we widened our net to find out about Mancha. We told his father, his father’s girlfriend as well as Alex’s girlfriend about the situation with Alex and the staff. They agreed to help us in whatever way they can. Wilder Innovators was started by his father. His father will keep a watch on him at work. His girlfriend will keep a watch on him when she’s with him. They all gather weekly for dinner at his father’s girlfriend, who is also in on the secret. Nobody knows anything about who Mancha is at the moment, so we’ll need to dig into that as well.”

Doctor Strange sighs. “Very well. Continue your investigation. You should be aware that multiple spells can be used to get a person to kill others. You will need to determine which one. Have you finished _Forensic Sorcery_?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Okay,” answers Doctor Strange, sounding disappointed that Nico's response hadn't given him a reason to insult her. He continues “In the meantime, while your investigation is going on, I highly suggest that you get to reading _Curses and Maledictions: Differential Diagnoses, Symptomologies, and Trajectories_.”

Clearly, Doctor Strange expected her to go right away and get to reading. Noticing her not leaving immediately, he asks: “Ms. Minoru, why are you still here?”

“Listen, I already know what you’re going to say, but I promised my friend that I would tell you. My friend Molly, one of the kids I live with, has superhuman strength and toughness. It’s her dream to join a superhero team like the Avengers.”

“And you are telling me this because?”

“She knows that I’m seeing you and she asked me to put in a good word for her. She has a great attitude, she’s super hard working. It’s her entire goal in life.”

“People with superhuman strength are a dime a dozen, Ms Minoru. It’s by far the most pedestrian superpower,” he says as if he’s stating a fact and not an opinion.

He notices Nico getting angry. “Oh, Ms. Minoru, what I mean by this is that statistically, it is the most common superpower. We’re not lacking for people with superhuman strength, here. Does she have any other special talents besides her strength and toughness?”

Taken by surprise by his request, Nico answers the first thing that pops into her head: “Uhmmmm, well… she can dance. I think she was on the school dance squad. Or at least she applied for it.” She cringes after finishing her sentence.

Doctor Strange guffaws in disbelief. “She can dance? I’m sure that will come in handy in the middle of battle or an emergency.”

“It worked for Peter Quill,” chimes in Wong as he’s placing books back on the shelves.

Doctor Strange is completely stumped for the first time since Nico’s met him. She gives Wong a grateful glance. He flashes a benevolent smile at her. The period of speechlessness on Doctor Strange’s part gives Nico the time she needed to come up with a better answer: “Well, she’s a pretty decent sleuth. She’s the one who suggested that we use the witness spell to look into our past through future Chase for information.”

Doctor Strange is still so destabilized about getting corrected that he actually pauses and gives Nico’s request serious consideration. He shrugs and says: “Well, I don’t think we’ve ever had someone with superhuman strength who also had good investigative skills. Tell your friend to work on those skills, it’ll help her chances. Now please leave,” he says, his ego still wounded at having been wrong about something.

* * *

Molly sits in the dining area, impatiently awaiting Nico’s return from her lesson with Doctor Strange. She grows excited when the portal opens and she sees Nico walk through it. “So, what did he say,” she eagerly asks, eyes wide.

Thankfully, Nico had rehearsed a more diplomatic version of the exchange she had had with Doctor Strange. She answers: “Umm, well, he says that there are a lot of people with superhuman strength out there. You need something to set yourself apart from them. Doctor Strange recommended working on your skills as a detective.”

Although she is at first disappointed by the response, Molly takes the advice to heart. She says, with a mixture of confidence and determination: “You’ll see, I’ll be the best detective out there. They’ll have no choice but to take me.”

* * *

Chase and Gert are in the common area of the Los Angeles International Airport with their makeshift family unit, enjoying their last minutes together before heading for their flight terminal to depart for Massachusetts. They had invited Alex along to say goodbye. Not doing so would have been rude, not to mention suspicious. Plus, since everyone had reconnected Gert had always envisioned having Alex there to say goodbye when she left. Chase had taken care of most of the speaking when extending the invitation because he seemed more natural at pretending not to notice that something was off with Alex.

They all stand around in a circle, making small talk and telling jokes, everyone feeling a certain sense of loss at the prospect of being separated after everything they’ve all been through together. A slight gap in the conversation becomes an uncomfortable silence, as they all realize that everyone else is feeling the sense of loss too. Nico starts tearing up. The rest of the group teases her a little about how much she’s a softy despite her icy demeanour, but soon enough, they’re tearing up as well. They all stand around, awkwardly trying to put off saying farewell until Gert remarks that she and Chase are going to have to get going soon.

Gert hugs Molly with surprising strength. “You’re the best sister I could have ever hoped for. I’m going to miss you. I love you so much.”

“I know. I’m awesome. Keep in touch.”

“Of course,” answers Gert.

Chase walks up to Molly and hugs her: “I’m going to miss having you around everyday to teach me how to make Gert happy.”

“Aw, don’t worry about it, you’re doing great. You can call me too, you know,” she says with a wide smile.

“Please keep an eye out for my sister,” Gert tells Nico and Karolina, as Molly rolls her eyes in reaction.

“We will,” promises Nico.

Gert and Nico hug. “Thank you for letting me know Chase liked me,” Gert whispers in Nico’s ear.

“Anytime,” Nico answers, trying not to look too emotional.

Gert and Karolina get a little uncomfortable about hugging each other, given how they had been at odds with each other over often in the past and each had told the other harsh truths about themselves. Although neither held a grudge towards the other any longer, both worried that the other might hold a grudge against them for things they had regretted saying.

They hug awkwardly, seeming at first to do it out of a sense of polite obligation, but both nevertheless glad that the obligation overrode their awkwardness. “I’m really happy for you and Nico,” Gert says.

“I know. I’m happy for you and Chase,” answers Karolina.

Chase walks up to Nico. As he hugs her, he whispers: “I just want you to know how thankful I am for intervening on my behalf with Gert.”

Nico tenderly answers: “Well, someone had to do it, and I knew you and Gert were too dumbass to figure it out without assistance, so the responsibility fell upon me.”

She smiles as she steps back from Chase: “Take good care of yourself, Chase.”

“You too,” he replies.

Chase embraces Karolina. “Thank you for not judging me. Take care, Karolina,” Chase says.

Karolina smiles. “Thank you for the same. I’m just glad that you’re happy. You deserve it,” she answers.

Chase approaches Alex to say goodbye. At first, Chase extends his hand for a handshake in jest.

Alex smiles and replies: “I’m a hugger, remember?”

“Of course, I do,” says Chase as he gives Alex a heartfelt hug. “Take good care of yourself, man. I look forward to seeing you over the holidays.”

Alex is genuinely moved, as he answers back: “Same.”

Gert knows that she doesn’t quite have the emotional control not to worry sick about Alex at the moment, so she decides that the best way to go about it is to roll with it: “Like Chase said, take good care of yourself,” she says, her voice shaking with emotion as she hugs Alex. Her voice turns slightly stern as she continues: “Don’t screw things up with Livvie.”

Gert’s emotional tone amplifies Alex’s own emotions, as he repeats: “Same.”

Gert and Chase take their bags, and head for the terminal to catch their flight. The rest of the gang watches them until they walk past opaque sliding doors. They all decide to head back to the Hostel as they hear _Fairest of the Seasons_ play softly on the airport’s sound system. 


	15. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holidays at the Hostel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A game of chess is like any fight:  
> You must think first before you move.  
> \---  
> Blood style is immensely strong  
> And immune to nearly any counter  
> When it's properly used it's almost invincible
> 
>  _The collected teachings of General Wu Tang to the 36th Chamber of magic on the art of warfare_ , chapter 6: The Mystery of Spellcasting. p. 102.

Nico is semi-absentmindedly reading through the 18th volume of _Curses and Maledictions: Differential Diagnoses, Symptomologies, and Trajectories_. It has been four months since Gert and Chase left for Massachusetts and Nico finds herself getting distracted by looking forward to having the entire gang together again for the holidays, even despite the circumstances surrounding Alex. It doesn’t help that the book she is reading isn’t the most captivating material there is, nor that she finds that looking for the spell throughout the multiple volumes of the book is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sadly, the revelation spell she tried didn’t work to shorten her search.

Her mind wanders to imagining announcing to Gert and Chase how the investigation hasn’t really moved forward since they left. There was nothing to tell them that they didn’t already know: Geoffrey Wilder had gone through employee records over at Wilder Innovator and hadn’t found anyone named Mancha within their employees or the people they did business with. Nico and/or Karolina frequently made appearances during the daily videoconference calls with Molly, allegedly to report on the situation with Alex, but in reality, as an excuse to keep in touch given that the investigation was having difficulties. Now that Nico had told them, Geoffrey, Tamar, and Livvie could tell that Alex wasn’t being forthright in his dealings with them, but just like Nico, they couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was about Alex that was off since he wasn’t being open with them either.

Nico comes to an entry in the book she was reading. As the meaning of the words that she was more or less passively sifting through register in her mind, something catches her attention, and all distractions evaporate as the content of the book is suddenly brought into sharp focus. She concentrates on the entry:

> **_Vendetta Curse_ **
> 
> Only cursory knowledge about the Vendetta curse is available in our archives. The only known fact about its origins is that it pre-dates human recorded history. This realm has had the good fortune of not having had to deal with this curse for centuries. What knowledge we have about the curse is mainly through the fragmentary stories that managed to reach our record-keepers.
> 
> **Symptomology**
> 
> The progression of the symptoms appears to be separated into three phases: the exposure, incubation, and active phase. Each phase is differentiated by a set of symptoms detailed in the text below.
> 
> _Exposure_
> 
> During the exposure phase, the curse will attempt to gain entry into its host by forcing them to commit a heinous act of murder. In order to facilitate the process, the curse will target the emotional vulnerabilities of the potential host, using hallucination and manipulation to achieve its aims. Further, it isn’t uncommon for the prospective host to be held in a state of captivity, as the curse seems to work best when given the time necessary to steadily whittle down the host’s defenses and to coerce the host into accepting its entry by forcing the potential host with a choice in which it presents itself as the less terrible of two alternatives.
> 
> _Incubation phase_
> 
> During the incubation phrase, the curse will actively seek to surreptitiously accumulate and consolidate power around its host. To achieve this aim, wonderful opportunities will seem to just fall out of the sky for the host and events will favour them. Despite this apparent good fortune, the cursed individual will live in a constant state of paranoia regarding the people they know, particularly those who know them best. Emotional distancing is reported in all known cases. In addition, during this phase, the host will on occasion feel compelled to perform certain actions that they will not understand nor be able to control. A number of hypotheses have been suggested for these episodes. The three most supported ones posit that the curse uses these episodes to gather information to adapt to its surroundings, set things in motion for its plan to unfold, and search to trigger its active phase when it senses that its time has come.
> 
> _Active phase_
> 
> The active phase of the Vendetta curse is characterized primarily by a murderous impulse. A combination of features distinguishes this curse from other curses that can also elicit homicidal tendencies:
> 
>   1. Whereas most curses that can induce a person to commit murder or, more generally, to have homicidal intent are either sustained spells or can only induce a short-lived desire to kill, the Vendetta curse is one of the rare spells that can create a relentless desire to kill within its host.
>   2. In order to achieve the desire to kill within its host, the Vendetta curse is emotionally fueled by endless resentment
>   3. Once triggered, the spell will induce its host to be treacherous.
>   4. Whereas most spells inducing murderous tendencies and behaviours will limit these tendencies to the intended victim, the Vendetta curse will spread to anyone who is perceived as coming between them and any of their intended victims and they too will become targets of the cursed individual.
> 

> 
> **Trajectory**
> 
> The duration of the incubation phase has been found to be highly variable, spanning from a few weeks to several decades. The transition between the latent and active phases of the curse is rapid and suddenly triggered by an event. By the time the event is triggered, the curse will have amassed enough power around itself to maximize its chances of victory. Although the particulars of the triggering event will vary greatly between cases, a common point within all documented cases is that the event triggers elicits a deep wrath and a strong desire for vengeance within the cursed individual, allowing the curse to completely take over the host. Once it reaches the active phase, the cursed individual will experience constant resentment against those whom they perceive as having wronged them. It is a defining feature of this curse that the urge to kill does not dissipate over time. Those afflicted will stoop to any low and carry out any treachery to achieve their aim and will feel no remorse over it.
> 
> **Recommendations**
> 
> The Vendetta curse is notoriously difficult to counter. It is highly preferable for it to be detected while it is still in the incubation phase. In such cases, it is strongly recommended that triggers be sought, found, and dealt with before the cursed individual wanders onto them. Be warned that this can prove extremely challenging, even for those most accomplished in the art of sorcery.
> 
> The suddenness with which the spell can be triggered to reach the active phase poses an additional danger, as it can catch the unsuspecting off guard. It is therefore of paramount importance to remain vigilant at all times and pay close attention to any signs of transition to the active stage. Should the curse reach the active stage, the evidence bears out what was first recorded in ancient texts regarding the curse: by blood was it created, and in blood it shall end. 

Nico thinks back to when they inhabited the thoughts that future Chase had that fateful night where they fought Morgan Le Fay and won by the skin of their teeth. She still clearly remembers future Chase’s thoughts on Alex as he was betraying everyone to Morgan Le Fay: that the future version of Alex was resentful and relentless in wanting to kill them. She also remembers how both her future self and the future version of Molly both thought that future Alex was devious and treacherous. Further, that version of Chase was from ten years in the future, so the spell was quite long lived. Nico comes to the realization that this is Alex's curse as Molly walks in and says that it's time to go get Gert and Chase from the airport. 

* * *

Alex convenes with Cassandra to discuss the progress on project Mancha. Thanks in no small part to Cassandra’s tireless work and Alex’s consultation of the Abstract for questions regarding technical decisions, the project had managed to proceed onward at breakneck pace, managing to almost miraculously avoid all the pitfalls that typically delay highly ambitious projects. Alex and Cassandra felt exhilarated and having the wind in their sails, having everything turn out so favourably again and again.

As they are about to bring their meeting to a close, Cassandra brings up an issue: “We’re beginning to run out of space here for all the project related materials. We’re going to need some storage space.”

“Okay, yeah, do you have any ideas?”

“Yes, I’ve looked up several solutions to the problem. I found a place that’s pretty cheap.”

“How secure is it,” Alex asks.

“Uh, I didn’t look into it.”

“It’s just, trade secrets. I hope you understand. Plus, if what we’re creating falls into the wrong hands, who knows how things could turn out?”

“I suppose so. Could you help me with that? I’m no security expert.”

“Sure. Tell you what, why don’t you let me take care of it? It’ll be my pleasure.”

“Okay, if you want it that way,” says Cassandra.

Alex opens the door to his office and smiles: “Excellent work, as usual, Cassandra.”

She smiles and leaves his office.

As he closes the door behind Cassandra, Alex gets a message from Nico: “Hey, we’re all home now. Please come home early.”

Alex gets a smile and texts back: “Will do. See you soon.”

* * *

Chase and Gert arrive back at the Hostel along with Molly and Nico. Karolina couldn’t be there to welcome them at the airport due to a final exam that day and Alex was busy with something over at Wilder Innovators. Old Lace runs over to Gert as soon as she walks in and demands her attention.

Gert caresses Old Lace affectionately as she says: “Hey girl! I’ve missed you so much. Were you a good girl while I was gone?”

Old Lace lets out a short affirmative growl.

“Wanna go outside and practice?”

Old Lace eagerly runs to the obstacle course and excitedly awaits Gert’s arrival. Not wanting to keep Old Lace waiting, Gert deposits her bags in the main hall and follows her outside, leaving Chase time to catch up with Nico and Molly.

“So, how’s everything,” asks Chase.

“Eh, a little boring without you and Gert around,” Molly answers.

“Hey,” Nico protests.

Chase chuckles a bit and asks Nico: “Any progress since we last spoke?”

The joy of having Chase and Gert back had made Nico forget about the curse on Alex for a few moments. She answers: “Yeah, maybe. I think that I might have found the curse that Alex is under earlier today. I’m going to contact Geoffrey and schedule a meet-up to let everyone know.”

Chase notices the worried expression on Nico’s face as she answers. He takes a serious look and says: “That bad, huh?”

Nico tries her best to play it off as if it’s nothing. She forces a smile and says: “Come on, you and Gert are only here for a couple of weeks. Let’s show some of that holiday cheer.”

Chase understands Nico’s need for a little bit of an escape from it all and decides to roll along with it. He smirks at Nico and says: “Oh, who is this new positive Nico? What has Karolina done to you while we were gone? Did she tie you up and reprogram you?”

Nico smiles and answers teasingly: “Now that sounds like a good time.”

“T-M-I,” says Molly, prompting Chase to laugh, making it salient for Nico how much she missed having him around and hearing him laugh.

Karolina arrives home. She gets a big smile when she sees Chase and gives him a hug. “Hey Chase, I hope you’re well. Where’s Gert?”

“She’s with Old Lace in the obstacle course. As soon as we walked in, Old Lace came over to ask Gert. She couldn’t say no.”

They stand around, making small talk for half an hour until Gert comes back inside with Old Lace.

“Hey, Gert, good to see you.”

“Hey Karolina, good to see you too,” Gert answers in a cordial tone.

The trade stories about their past four months that they had forgotten to mention during their videoconference or calls or had happened since the last one. Karolina says: “Oh, I have to tell you, I think I figured out who Julie is. You know, the girl I think my future self was with.”

Nico raises her brow with curiosity and says: “Really?”

Karolina smiles as she answers: “Yeah, her name is Julie Powers. She’s a teaching assistant in my stats class.”

“And how do you know it’s her,” Nico asks with a smirk.

“Uhm, well, I didn’t notice at the time, but now I think she was flirting with me. After the exam, as I was handing in my copy, she gave me this.” Karolina says as she hands over a post-it note.

On it, Nico sees a phone number and the name Julie, with a heart replacing the dot on the letter “i".

Nico chuckles and asks: “Is she cute?”

Karolina gets a little uncomfortable: “Um, well, maybe, she’s really nice and all, but she’s not my type,” she answers while giving playful looks at Nico.

Alex arrives soon after. Chase pretend to go for a handshake, and gives him a hug. “How have you been, are you taking good care of yourself?”

“Careful there, Chase, you're beginning to sound like Gert.” Alex looks over at an unamused Gert and continues: “Aw come on now, Gert, you know I'm just teasing.”

“It's nice to see you too,” she says.

The group chit chats in the main hall, until Chase and Gert pick up their bags and head upstairs to their old room. They finally enter their bedroom with all their bags. They deposit their baggage on the floor. They turn to each other and Gert wraps her arms around Chase’s neck as he wraps his arms around her waist.

She says: “I’ve really been looking forward to spending the next two weeks here with you.”

Chase answers her by giving her just the biggest, happiest smile.

Although they had seen each other as often as possible during the semester, they mostly got to see each other over weekends, given their class schedules and the fact that both Gert and Chase worked; Gert wrote for the student newspaper and Chase worked as a research assistant in one of his professor’s lab. Now they would finally get to spend as much time as they wanted together. 

* * *

Molly is in her room, reading a detective story. She hears a knock on the door. It’s Gert. Molly and Gert share a smile.

“Thanks for coming to spend some time with me,” Molly says gratefully.

“It’s my pleasure. So, how’s your project coming along,” asks Gert.

“Well, right now, I’m sticking with the daily exercises, and I’m reading a lot. Karolina got me some forensic psych textbooks from the UCLA library. I borrowed _Forensic Sorcery_ from Nico. She’s a real stickler about me not eating near it. Anyways, I can’t do any spells, but I know which spells to use in which situation.”

“Wow, I’m seriously impressed.”

“How about you, what are you up to?”

“Well, uh, I’m registered for my classes next semester. I had to read _Frantz Fanon_ this semester. The teacher was great, she was so knowledgeable and approachable too. I’m learning so much. Next semester, I have a 19th century literature class.”

“What are your plans for when you’re here?”

“Well, to spend a lot of time with you, for starters,” Gert answers, before continuing: “Maybe see Chase a little too,” with a sly smile.

They start laughing. Molly answers, with a mock solemn tone: “I shall do my utmost to tolerate his meddlesome presence with us.”

“What was that,” asks Gert, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

“Oh, just imitating Nico’s impersonation of Doctor Strange. You should hear her, her version is the funniest.”

Gert and Molly stay up, talking until the late hours of the night.

* * *

Tamar is at home alone with Xerxes, lying down on the living room sofa to take advantage of Xerxes’ nap to catch some rest herself. Suddenly she hears a knock on the door. She gets up and walks over to it. She opens the door and gasps slightly when she recognizes who it is. It’s Felicia, fresh out of prison. Whatever reason she has for coming over can’t be good.

“Hi there,” says Felicia, with a mock friendly voice, “Aren’t you going to invite me in? I’m saddened by the fact that you don’t seem as glad to see me as I’m glad to see you. You weren’t even there to greet me when I was released. I guess that’s how it is when people move on up: they forget all about the people who helped them get there.”

“What do you want,” asks Tamar tensely.

Felicia is clearly amused by Tamar’s reaction. She responds: “Is that any way to talk to a friend? I’m here, just making small talk and you can’t wait to get me out of your way. Well fine, let’s get down to business. You know how hard it is for those of us who come out of prison. All I want is a little help to get myself back on my feet. It seems that you’ve done quite well for yourself, there, Tamar. I mean, hooking up with the widower of the woman you had me kill.” She notices Tamar’s glare. She smirks and continues, with a mocking voice: “I’m not judging. Everyone finds happiness their own way. But you know how it is; people can be so judgemental. Why, if they were to learn, I’m sure they’d all think it’s quite scandalous.” Tamar’s gaze hardens into a face of unvarnished hatred. Felicia pretends not to notice and continues: “All I’m saying is that I’d really hate for something to happen to ruin your happiness. It would be a real shame if somehow Geoffrey were to learn that you were the one who had his wife killed.”

“I already paid you.”

“Aw honey, it’s so sweet how trusting you are. You paid me to kill Catherine Wilder, which I did with a couple of my friends. But it seems that you got unforeseen benefits from it while I’m still out there hustling just to make ends meet. It just doesn’t seem right since you kept your hands clean and me and my girls did all your dirty work for you. I think I should get a little extra. Doesn’t that seem fairer?”

Tamar looks on silently, her eyes shooting daggers at Felicia, but knowing that saying anything that’s on her mind won’t help her in any way. Felicia laughs and drops the façade: “Listen, I want $15,000”

“I don’t have that kind of money with me at the moment,” says Tamar, “besides, even if I did, what guarantee do I have that you won’t come back and hit me up for money later?”

“Oh, since this is the first time that we’re doing business together since resuming our partnership, I’ll cut you some slack and expect the money by Friday next week. Regarding your second question, I was hoping you’d be a repeat customer. As for guarantees, the only guarantee I have for you is that if you don’t pay me with money, I’ll make you pay some other way,” she responds with an ill-intentioned grin.


	16. Tearz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico tells the group about her discovery.  
> Karolina and Nico meet up with Leslie.  
> Max meets up with Gert and Chase.  
> Nico offers a present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After laughter, comes tears.
> 
> Excerpt from _The Prophecy of the Ghostface Killer_ , notebook of David Ellerh.

The Runaways minus Alex meet up with Geoffrey, Livvie, and Tamar at Nana B’s house on December 27th. Alex had decided to go to work that day despite the fact that his father had given him and almost everyone at Wilder Innovators the day off. Nico had simply told everyone invited that she had an announcement to make regarding the investigation when she called the meet-up, but wouldn’t say more.

As usual in such moments, she was visibly dreading having to say it. Having everyone looking up to her for answers increases her discomfort tenfold. “Hi everyone. I called this meeting because I think I found which curse Alex is under. I brought the book with me in case anyone wants to read about it.”

“Well, that’s good news,” Geoffrey says, filled with hope.

Nico can’t help but react with a distraught facial expression that everyone in attendance notices.

“What is it,” asks Livvie, unable to endure not knowing.

A guilt-ridden Nico answers shakily: “Everyone, I’m sorry I’m not bringing better news. The curse that Alex is under is called the Vendetta curse. It’s bad. Where do I even begin?”

“Okay, why don’t you begin by telling us how you know that you have the right curse,” says Geoffrey as soothingly as he can.

Nico is reassured enough for her voice to become steady and allows her more cold and rational side to take over: “I was sifting through a book on curses and how to tell them apart based on the symptoms that people are showing. I’ve literally looked at thousands of entries, none of them matched, until I read an entry late last week on the day Gert and Chase arrived back in LA. Alex’s symptoms match the Vendetta curse. I’m sure of it.” Noticing the quizzical looks she’s receiving, Nico opens the book at the page where the description for the Vendetta curse is and reads the symptomology section of the entry for the Vendetta curse aloud. She'd read it so many times since finding it that she probably could have recited the entire entry from memory. When she is finished, she raises her eyes from the book and looks around the room to gauge everyone’s reaction. Her friends who took part in the witnessing spell with her recognize the symptoms, but the rest of the room looks rather puzzled.

Nico says: “Right now, I think we can all agree that he’s emotionally distant with all of us.”

Everyone in attendance nods their approval. Geoffrey says out loud what he’s asking himself: “I know that he’s emotionally distant from us, but a lot of things could explain that. I mean, who knows what happened to him during those six months. The rest of the stuff you describe about him wanting to kill everyone who gets in his way, being treacherous, relentless, and filled with resentment, I mean, he doesn’t show any signs of that at the moment.”

Tamar and Livvie nod in approval of what Geoffrey said.

“That’s because he’s still in the incubation phase,” answers Nico, “but if he transitions to the active phase, he’ll show those signs.”

Noticing Geoffrey still seems a little reluctant to believe Nico found the curse, Gert stands up and speaks up. “We all know because of the spell Nico cast that allowed us to witness the thoughts of future Chase and Nico towards future Alex the night that we fought Morgan . Everyone from the future thought that future Alex was treacherous and untrustworthy. When he betrayed Chase and everyone else to Morgan, Chase’s thoughts were about how relentless and resentful the future Alex was. Or will be.”

Chase corrects Gert: “I think you mean future me.”

“Right,” half-concedes Gert, still not as willing and eager to draw that distinction as Chase is.

Geoffrey gestures towards the book in Nico’s hands, saying: “Can I have a look?” She hands him the book

Livvie asks: “So, what do we do?”

Nico answers: “Well, right now, I don’t know how to disable the curse that’s on Alex or if it’s even possible to disable it. The good news is that it hasn’t reached the active stage yet and that it can go on for decades before that occurs. We know that the curse needs some sort of triggering event to reach its active stage, but the form that the trigger takes can vary a lot from person to person. What is common to all triggering events for this curse is that it’s something that will make its host, in this case, Alex, extremely angry and resentful.”

Tamar shifts around uncomfortably on the couch as she hears Nico mention the characteristics of the triggering event.

Geoffrey finishes reading the entry: “According to your book, if it goes to the active phase, this thing ends in death one way or the other. We can’t let that happen.”

Karolina opines: “Believe us, we don’t want that to happen either. I refuse to believe that this ends in death, but I’m not sure how. I think in the meantime, we need to do our best to buy Nico some time to figure it out and to protect Alex from himself.”

Molly says: “Okay, so we need to find out whatever is going to kick off the active phase and defuse it before it finds Alex.”

“Maybe it’s got something to do with Mancha,” Chase suggests.

“I don’t think so,” answers Gert, “the note said to hide Mancha, which means that it’s quite possible that he already knows about Mancha. Plus, why would Mancha make him angry or resentful? It just doesn’t make sense. It sounds more like Mancha’s an asset of his. Plus, how could we defuse it right now when we don’t know the first thing about it?”

Chase looks a little embarrassed at having spoken without thinking things through. Gert places her hand on his forearm and whispers in his ear: “It’s okay, Chase. We’re all just throwing out ideas here. Keep listening, you might get a good idea.”

Everyone begins enumerating things that Alex could feel angry and resentful about: being left behind to be tortured in the Dark Dimension, Nico preferring Karolina over him, Chase’s role in endangering the team when he left, Pride hunting them down, his mother’s murder while in prison, Livvie breaking up with him so suddenly. The speculation that ensues rapidly devolves into several conversations where everyone tries to make their opinion of what the trigger is prevail over the alternatives preferred by others. And yet, none of the hypothesized triggers managed to fit: Alex already knew about those events and he was still in the incubation phase. 

Amidst the cacophony, a forceful voice suddenly cuts through. “I think I know where the trigger is,” interrupts Tamar. The conversations that were taking place prior to Tamar’s intervention grind to a halt, as all eyes in the room turn to her. Surprise and consternation fill the room as they all look at Tamar guilt written all over her face. She continues: “It’s me, I’m the trigger.”

* * *

Nico and Karolina are meeting Leslie Dean at the Church of Gibborim head office. After the initial chaos created by Tamar’s revelation that she had orchestrated Catherine Wilder’s death as retaliation for Catherine killing Darius began to die down, the issue of how to deal with the situation with Tamar as it pertained with Alex and his curse became prominent. Livvie was uncertain as to how to deal with her situation. She was offered whatever support she would request. Molly offered to be her security guard if she wanted it. Whoever this Felicia was had to be found rapidly. Keeping her quiet was a top priority. Tamar said that she would pass by Friday to collect her money. Keeping up appearances between Geoffrey and Tamar would prove difficult, perhaps impossible. It soon became apparent to everyone that Tamar and Xerxes would need a hiding place. Gert mentioned that Dale had stayed hidden within the Church of Gibborim in his attempt to live off the grid. It was deemed worth the shot. Although Tamar looked none too thrilled about having to live with the freaky ass church lady, she accepted it as perhaps her least terrible option.

Nico and Karolina’s arrival on the premises of the Church of Gibborim head office had been a rather conspicuous affair despite their desire to go unnoticed, not only because secrecy was preferable for the purpose of their visit, but also because the type of attention they drew made them profoundly uncomfortable. Nico with her dark clothes and makeup clashed starkly with the overall aesthetic espoused by the parishioners in their white and pastel coloured clothes. Karolina wanted to shrink into being microscopic from all the stares she drew and the people openly pointing at her and talking to one another about her, openly admiring their messiah figure.

Karolina only begins feeling somewhat less tense when Leslie closes the door to her office for their conversation to be private. Nico, on the contrary, feels even more tense after the door closes.

“Karolina, Nico, I imagine that you need my help if you’re here to see me after not talking to me for all these months.”

“Yes, we do,” confesses Karolina, “Tamar needs a place to lay low.”

“I see,” answers Leslie, “may I ask why she needs a hiding place?”

Karolina explains the entire situation with the Staff of One, the curse on Alex, and the role that Tamar may play into triggering the curse on Alex to Leslie. Throughout the explanation, Leslie Dean sits completely still, listening attentively to Karolina and maintaining an inscrutable facial expression. Nico is a little unsettled by it, letting her imagination run wild, thinking how Karolina’s mother must disapprove of her due to the danger Leslie must think Nico poses for the well-being of Karolina. Karolina turns around and notices Nico getting lost in her own thoughts and gently takes Nico’s hand, bringing her back in the present moment.

“I suppose I owe Tamar for helping me out when I was delivering your sister. I accept. I will hide her. Not that my help is contingent upon it, but in return, I would like a word alone with Nico.”

Nico and Karolina exchange glances. Nico gives her approval despite serious uncertainties. Karolina leaves to go wait in the lobby and closes the door behind her.

“I know my daughter. I have raised her to be pure and kind. When I see how much she loves you, it worries me.”

Leslie’s tone is perfectly neutral but nevertheless pleasant.

“I swear would never do anything to hurt her.”

“I know, and yet, that’s not what worries me. My daughter loves you so much that she would do anything for you. I fear that she may lose herself in you the same way I lost myself in Jonah. She would follow you into every danger, at the peril of her own life.”

“I would never let anything hurt her.”

“By killing Jonah, or so we thought, you saved countless lives, including possibly Karolina's. And yet, Karolina was still hurt by it. Because of you and that spell you cast when you banished Jonah and his family from their hosts, she journeyed into darkness.”

“I'm very sorry about that.”

“I am telling you this because I have accepted that these events had been foretold in my father’s writings. And I now see that Tamar coming here was also prophesied. Fate brought you here, Nico Minoru. I am afraid that your quest will lead to much trials and tribulations for yourself, and immense suffering for my daughter. But so it was written. I am to tell you to go now and be at peace.”

Nico exits the room, completely at a loss of what to make of her conversation with Leslie. She meets up with Karolina making small talk with Vaughan in the lobby. 

* * *

Gert and Chase meet up with Max near a wooded area. Chase had texted him as soon as they arrived back in LA to schedule a meet-up. Despite their differences, Chase and Max had managed to hit it off, largely due to mutual good will. Chase’s generally chill nature and the way he seemed to live for the present moment helped with his anxieties. Chase appreciated the intellectual side Max had in common with Gert, and the way Max could talk about a topic he didn’t know about without making him feel like an idiot for not knowing.

Chase and Gert’s absence in the past few months had been difficult for Max to bear, as the pair constituted most of his social network. In their absence, Molly came by weekly during supply runs to greet him and chat with him. She was chatty, telling him everything she had talked about with Chase and Gert during their videoconference calls except for the conversations about Alex and the curse. Max always seemed both very appreciative and a little saddened whenever Molly gave him news. Gert and Chase called in occasionally to see how he was. He reacted the same as when Molly talked to him: very appreciative, and a little saddened.

“Hey Max! It’s so good to see you in person! How are you?” says Chase enthusiastically when Max shows up for their meet-up. The plan for the evening was fairly simple: meet up at noon, have a picnic, and hike. Shooting the breeze throughout was an integral part of the plan.

“Well, pretty happy to see you two, that’s for sure.”

“Hey Max, it’s good to see you too, I hope you’re well.” Gert responds, genuinely happy to see him.

“Ummm, well, I am now.”

“What’s happening?”

“Nothing really, it’s just the same old thing. Every once in a while, I enter a place and I get the impression that I’ve been there before. Or I meet a person, and I get the feeling that I know them, but I can never quite place them. And thing is, while I try to avoid places where I know it’s going to happen, sometimes, I discover new places I’ve been before. Can’t even go to the movie theater without it happening and spending the entire runtime unable to pay attention to the movie because I’m wondering where I know this place from. Or I run into people, and they look like they recognize me, and I get a vague sense of recognition. And all I’m left with is an endless list of questions. The only way to live with it is to give up trying to remember.”

“Hey, Max, one thing’s for sure. We’re your friends,” says Chase. “At least you have that.”

“Yeah, thanks. I guess I have that.” He turns to Gert and changes topic: “How was Smith?”

“Oh, it was incredible. I had a class where I had a whole reading list on post-colonial studies. I really learned a lot.”

“That sounds really cool. I’d love to have a look at your course notes if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, I’ll bring them next time. For your problem, have you tried medication?”

“I would, but I’m making minimum wage. I’m sure medication would help, but I’m stuck there because of the anxiety, and I’m anxious partly because I’m stuck there.”

“Maybe you should go back to school. You showed us your transcripts. You were a really good student.”

“With your grades, you could get a scholarship,” Chase suggests.

Gert continues: “I didn’t know you that well, but you seemed like a guy who liked what he was doing. It would be a real shame if you stopped because of your other problem because now, you have two problems instead of one.”

“I don’t know how I would deal going back to USC and running into my former classmates and being in the same classrooms as before all the time.”

“Well, we could introduce you to our friend Karolina. You met her before. She was with my sister.”

“Oh, was she the impossibly gorgeous blonde one or the hot yet scary gothic Asian one with the darkest hair I’ve ever seen? Please tell me it’s not the scary one.”

Gert and Chase start laughing at Max’s description of Karolina and Nico. Gert answers: “No, it’s not the scary one. That would be Nico. And if you knew her, you’d say she’s one of the nicest persons you've ever met. She would do anything for her friends. The one we were talking about is the impossibly gorgeous blonde.”

“Oh yeah. She was one of those people I recognized from before, but couldn’t place. I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“She’s going to UCLA to do a degree in clinical psych. I’d say that’s the kind of help you’d need,” replies Gert.

“I suppose that wouldn’t hurt.”

* * *

Nico and Karolina walk up to Chase and Gert, who were chilling out in the main hall after dinner. Nico had wanted to talk to them, but felt that keeping up morale wasn’t her strongest suit, mainly because she felt very awkward doing it. Karolina came along because her presence helped Nico feel relaxed about being herself.

“Uh, hey guys,” says Nico, “I got a late Christmas present for you.”

“Oh, you didn’t need to. You know how we feel about consumerism,” Gert responds.

Karolina rolls her eyes and shakes her head, but doesn’t lose her smile.

“Oh my god, you’re turning into Nico,” Chase quips upon noticing Karolina’s eyeroll.

“Eh, there are worse things to turn into,” answers Karolina, trying her best to imitate Nico.

Nico knows that these two will play off one another to put on an improv theater production if given half a chance, and while she looks forward to having the scene play out, she wants stay on topic and discuss her gift for her friends: “Uh, I wanted you guys to know that having you around makes me realize how much I’ve missed you.”

“Aw, we missed you too. We’ll try to come over during Spring break,” answers Chase.

“Yeah, we’re not forgetting about you,” adds Gert.

“I know. I’m just saying this because I think I found a solution if you’re interested.”

Gert and Chase look at one another. Gert turns to Nico and says, “Keep going,” she smirks as she continues as deadpan as possible: “We haven’t grown bored yet.”

Nico and Karolina laugh. “Molly told you, didn’t she,” says Karolina.

“Only a little. I have it on good authority that Nico’s version is the funniest.”

Nico chuckles. “Actually, in a funny way, that brings me to my point. I see Doctor Strange via portal.”

Chase’ eyes light up. “You figured out how to makes portals.”

“Well, kinda, I need a clear image of the place where I want the other end of the portal to be. As far as I understand it, Doctor Strange obtains the mental image he needs by astral projecting himself to where he wants his physical self to be, but my astral projection skills aren’t exactly top notch yet.”

“Okay, and,” asks Gert.

“Well, I think that I might be able to hack that half of the spell. When you guys get back to your dorm rooms, could you take a picture of the place and send it to me? I’ll try to open a portal to your dorm rooms. I could also use it to make you guys talismans. They could only be used to open portals between two specific places, namely between your dorm rooms. You could see each other whenever you want. I could also make some so you could come over here whenever you want.”

Chase and Gert look at one another and smile. “Thank you so much, Nico. Of course, no problem. We’ll take pictures as soon as we’re getting back to our dorm rooms. That’s if I’m not being too presumptuous,” Chase says, turning to Gert.

“Of course not,” responds Gert.

“Why does none of this surprise me,” says Nico in a condescending tone. Molly, who happened to be passing by on her way to her room, and Karolina begin laughing hysterically.

Chase and Gert look at each other, confused. Nico starts telling Gert and Chase her Doctor Strange stories, to everyone’s amusement.


	17. Setup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang gathers at Tamar's
> 
> Alex and Livvie go on a date.

The gang is gathered together at Tamar’s house, awaiting Felicia’s arrival to claim her hush money from Tamar. Everyone had gotten there early, except for Livvie who had gone out on a date with Alex to make sure he wouldn’t be anywhere nearby when the meeting took place. A noticeable tension between Tamar and Geoffrey makes everyone ill at ease. The two of them hadn’t talked with one another since the day that Tamar had confessed to the role that she had played in Catherine Wilder’s death. It is clear that Geoffrey still feels angry and betrayed by it, and that Tamar is deeply regretful about how much her actions ended up hurting him and may lead to his son’s downfall.

Because Tamar going public with her crime would entail that Alex would become aware of her role and activate the curse fully, it was decided that secrecy was the best way to go about it. This had raised the issue of how to deal with Felicia. Since it was agreed upon that having Felicia coming around represented too much of a risk, the plan proposed by Geoffrey was pretty straightforward: await her arrival, buy her off with a large cash offer, never see her again. Despite everyone’s misgivings, it seemed like the most expedient plan to address the risk posed by her presence and Geoffrey was insistent because it would allow him to have a direct hand in protecting his son.

Just as everyone is beginning to wonder if Felicia is going to show up because she is running 45 minutes late, a black SUV with tinted windows pulls up and parks in front of Tamar’s house. A hooded woman steps out of the rear driver side door and makes her way to the front door and rings the doorbell. When she opens the door, Tamar is surprised to find that the person standing in front of them isn’t Felicia, but a young woman, who couldn’t have been older than twenty years old.

“I’m here for the money,” she says, trying to mask her nervousness by appearing menacing, which makes her more dangerous; she’s more likely to react poorly to unexpected events.

“Where’s Felicia?” Tamar asks.

“She’s waiting in the car. Where’s the money?”

The young woman notices Geoffrey, standing behind Tamar. She glances him over from head to toe several times before asking: “Who the fuck are you,” with suspicion and hostility. Clearly, she did not expect nor welcome his presence. She exhibits the handgun she’s carrying and puts a hand on the pistol grip to let him know she means business.

Geoffrey looks at her and sees a kid in way over their head, which doesn’t make her any less dangerous, as her inexperience and resulting nervousness increase the chances that the situation will go off the rails. He remains completely calm despite the carrier's attempt at intimidation. Geoffrey finds remaining calm surprisingly easy; in an odd way, the setting he currently finds himself in feels more familiar than the offices of Wilder Innovators. As soothingly as he can, Geoffrey says: “Name’s Geoffrey Wilder.”

“Who? Well, Geoffrey Wilder, if you know what’s good for you, mind your own business.” she sneeringly responds, clearly having no idea who she’s talking with. Felicia must have kept her in the dark. If the courier got killed, who cares, get another one. There are plenty of desperate people willing to do the job.

“Uh listen, who I am is not important. What’s important is that I’m here to make Felicia a very generous offer. In exchange, she and her crew stay the hell away from Tamar or anyone Tamar knows. She can come inside, and we’ll talk about it.”

Something about Geoffrey’s calm makes the messenger even more nervous, as if he were in control of the situation and not her. Most people would have eagerly done just about anything to get her out of her way when they saw her weapon. “Give me the money and we’ll think about it,” she snaps.

“I’m afraid that I can’t just let everyone go like that. It’s very important to me that we settle this right away.”

“Tell me, what would stop me from shooting you in the head right now and just take the money?”

“If you really wanted to do that, then I suppose there’s nothing I could do to prevent it at the moment. All I can say is that you would be passing up on a golden opportunity. All we want is to sit down face to face with Felicia and have a talk to resolve this misunderstanding. I promise it’ll be worth her while, and yours too.”

The courier has a quick look inside and sees the Runaways standing in the living room. The young woman walks back swiftly to the car. Geoffrey keeps a close watch. He sees the two windows on the passenger side roll down and the muzzle of an automatic rifle come out of each window.

“Everybody, get down now!”

A loud pop can be heard coming from the car, shattering the living room window of Tamar’s place. Everyone drops to the floor, except Gert, who freezes. Molly gets up and tackles her down, getting shot in the process. They hear the car doors opening.

Chase rapidly gets up and extends his Fistigons, palms facing outward. A translucent barrier gets projected out of his Fistigons between himself and the shooters. They start shooting again. The bullets hit the shield and drop harmlessly to the floor. Felicia and her crew nevertheless reload and continue shooting.

Although he tries to appear calm, Chase sounds alarmed when he says: “Uh, everyone my batteries are starting to run low. Every shot I block depletes it quicker. At the rate they’re firing, we’ve got maybe ten more seconds. I could really use an assist over here.”

“Chase, Molly’s been shot,” Gert says.

Molly surprises everyone by getting back up looking a little sore and saying: “Okay, now I’m pissed.”

Karolina gets up and tells her friends: “Everyone, close your eyes and look away.”

They heed her command. Even with their eyes closed and looking away, her friends find the sheer levels of brightness emitted by Karolina almost unbearable, spontaneously covering their eyes with their hands to reduce the amount of light, except for Chase who’s still busy holding up his barrier. The sound of shooting soon stops. When Karolina is done, the Runaways open their eyes and look outside and see that Felicia’s and her henchmen have become completely blinded. Not a moment too soon, as Chase’s barrier falters. Molly dashes forward and hurdles through the shattered window. She runs towards the man who shot her, grabs his machine gun and twists it into an unusable shape as she looks at him intimidatingly. “Are you sure you want to try me?” He shakes his head. “Then don’t move.”

Geoffrey sneaks up and punches out the guy holding the second machine gun.

Seeing the tables have turned on her, Felicia gets back in her SUV and drives off hurriedly, screeching the tires as she departs.

Molly turns to Nico. “We have to catch her.”

“I know. I can do a tracing spell on Felicia, but I’m going to need something that belongs to her.”

Molly walks over to where Felicia was standing during the shootout and picks up an empty ammo clip from the ground. “This came from her gun.”

Nico walks over and gets handed the clip. She closes her eyes and concentrates. She gets a vision of where Felicia is. She orders her friends: “Everyone in the car, now. Chase, you’re driving. I ride shotgun. I’ll be giving you directions. You can talk to one another if you want, but don’t talk to me; I need to concentrate. If I lose trace of her, getting the trace back takes me a little time, and we need to hurry.”

“What about Tamar,” Chase asks.

“I’m taking her to Leslie right away,” answers Geoffrey, “now go!”

Following Geoffrey’s reassurance, the gang heads to the car. As she walks past the carrier, Nico casually says, “Seems to me like this is your lucky day. You sure you want to try that again?” They enter the car and drive off.

Nico goes motionless as she enters a trance.

“Don’t drive too fast, Chase, I got her locked in, she’s not going anywhere without me knowing about it. She doesn’t know that we’re following her. Let’s keep it that way. If she gets suspicious, she could start driving recklessly or who knows what else. We don’t want to draw more attention to this. Make a right at the next intersection.”

In the backseat, Karolina and Gert discuss what to do next.

Gert is angry at herself for having frozen, which puts her in a mood. She addresses the people in the backseat. “Do we even have a plan for what we do when we arrive? I mean, I doubt that she’ll be super cooperative after everything that’s happened today. She was already trigger happy before, now she’s going to shoot us on sight.”

Karolina chides Gert. “Well, Gert, if you have an issue with it, so does everyone here. If you have a helpful suggestion, I’m all ears. You said we need a plan, I can’t disagree with that, but part of this unplanned situation is being forced upon us at the moment, so there will almost certainly be unplanned elements to this.”

“The batteries on my Fistigons are drained from earlier,” chimes in Chase from the driver’s seat, “so I can’t use them right now. Just saying it so you don’t count them as part of your plans.”

Karolina turns back to Gert: “Okay, I gotta say that the events seem to be playing against us pretty heavily at the moment. How about finding ways not to die? You know, some general principles on how to handle this situation?”

Gert pauses and thinks. “Okay, well, we stick together, we already know where Felicia is, Nico says she doesn’t know we’re coming, so we have the drop on her. I say we hang back out of sight a little, analyze the situation, come up with a plan then act upon it.”

“Thank you, Gert. See, that was helpful.”

Nico tells Chase to pull over after a ten minute drive. They all exit the car and start walking, following Nico’s lead. Nico looks suddenly very upset and snaps out of her trance.

“What is it Nico?” asks Karolina.

“Come on, we have to move _now_!”

* * *

Alex and Livvie are finishing up their date. Livvie had been nervous throughout the date, despite her best attempts to remain calm and keep up some semblance of normalcy. She did her best to avoid thinking about what would happen at Tamar’s house. She managed to pull it off well enough to fool Alex. She had suggested that they go to the movies in order to keep interactions to a minimum, thereby facilitating her task. Although they had watched a film that she had looked forward to seeing, she found herself unable to tune out all the worries racing through her mind. During the film’s runtime, she frequently looked over to Alex, who was entirely absorbed by the story, oblivious to the fact that Livvie was watching him closely. _He looks so peaceful_ , she thought, feeling deeply saddened at the prospect of what might happen to him.

They reach the spot at which they usually went their separate ways after dates. She reminds herself of who Alex truly is in order to muster up the enthusiasm to kiss him. Alex is a little surprised by her enthusiasm. When she breaks the kiss, she sees a big happy smile on his face. She’s thankful for this moment, and smiles back.

“Later Livvie,”

“Later, Alex.”

Livvie heads home. Throughout her walk home, she finds herself thinking hopefully about the deal Geoffrey would make with Felicia.

As she’s getting close to her place, searching her purse for her keys, she hears a menacing voice. “Hi Livvie.”

Livvie appears clearly startled. She lifts her head and sees a tough looking woman walking towards her holding a gun pointed at her.

“You don’t remember me? Awww, that makes me sad. I suppose that you wouldn’t, when they put me in, you were this tall,” she says, gesturing slightly above her waist with her free hand. “I guess Tamar must not have told you about me because she seems to have forgotten who her friends were. Name’s Felicia.”

Livvie gets a look of recognition at the mention of Felicia’s name. Her presence can’t be a good sign: things must have gone awry back at Tamar’s. She does the best thing she can: delay for time. “What do you want,” a frightened but brave Livvie responds.

Felicia responds angrily and raises her voice. “Well, I just wanted a little money to help me get back on my feet. In case you didn’t know, Tamar had me and my girls kill some bitch in prison and then hooked up with the rich widower. Real sick shit if you ask me. It’s so outrageous that it really makes me want to tell everyone,” she says with an amused smile. Her face turns dead serious. “I asked her to pay up and that untrustworthy bitch responded by setting me up. I should have known that would happen. Well I’m not going to let this slide without consequences.”

The Runaways arrive on the scene, having successfully snuck up on Felicia. Nico casts an immobilization spell on her. Molly takes the gun from her hand and crushes it with one hand as easily as if it were an empty soda can.

“You’re not going anywhere,” says Molly.

“Where’s Tamar,” asks Livvie.

“She’s safe. Geoffrey’s taking her into hiding,” answers Nico.

“Okay, we need to discuss what to do with her now. I just hope that none of you are planning on wiping her mind,” says Gert.

“Well, to be honest, I had considered it, but knowing how you feel about it, if anyone has a better plan, now would be the time to say it,” answers Nico.

Gert relents. “Thank you. It’s pretty clear that the solution comes through you, Nico. I don’t know every spell possible. I don’t know anything about magic.”

“I do,” chimes in Molly, “I mean, I read some of Nico’s books. I don’t know everything, but she could cast an avoidance spell. You know, make sure that from this day forward, she can never come into contact with Alex or Tamar or any of us either directly or through any indirect means.”

They all look at one another and nod in agreement. Nico performs the spell.

* * *

Alex finally felt some unvarnished happiness for the first time since leaving the Dark Dimension. Livvie had given him one hell of a kiss and had flashed her gorgeous smile as she walked away. Alex still stood there, smiling dumbly, up until she turns her back. Suddenly, he feels the compulsion to follow Livvie. He hadn’t felt it since the time he had followed Gert and Chase’s friend home. His smile disappears, as he grows alarmed at not being able to control his movements, despite doing his best to fight back. He creepily follows Livvie home. He already knew the way, having taken the route many times before. He knew exactly where to stay just slightly out of sight, despite his best attempts to yell and draw attention to himself, he found himself unable to do so.

He stays out of sight in front of Livvie’s place. He sees a tough looking woman walk up to Livvie with a gun pointed at her. He can’t fully make out what they’re saying, until he hears the woman holding the gun speaking loudly.

“Well, I just wanted a little money to help me get back on my feet. In case you didn’t know, Tamar had me and my girls kill some bitch in prison and then hooked up with the rich widower. Real sick shit if you ask me. It’s so outrageous that it really makes me want to tell everyone. I asked her to pay up and that untrustworthy bitch responded by setting me up. I should have known that would happen. Well I’m not going to let this slide without consequences.”

Alex suddenly feels a rush of anger, his every thought bent of killing Tamar and that woman, whoever she was.

His face turns to surprise as he sees his friends arriving on the scene. Molly takes the woman’s gun and crushes it. Alex sees his friends begin discussing what to do next. Livvie asks where Tamar is. Nico responds by reassuring her that Tamar is safe. His anger homes in on Nico. She must be responsible for this outrage, somehow. His father was in on it too. His thirst for vengeance takes over completely, driving his every single action.

He hears them discussing what to do with his mother’s killer. He hears Molly suggest that they perform an avoidance spell. They all nod in agreement.

After Nico casts the spell, Alex suddenly feels compelled to walk away, being driven from this woman despite his every effort to go after her. He watches on with impotent rage as the woman who killed his mother with her own hands suddenly gets up as if possessed, turns her back to him, and walks in the opposite direction. _Nico did this. And everyone was in on it_. As he walks away, he seethes with rage with Nico and his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy halloween everyone. Stay safe.


	18. New Year’s Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fallout from the Runaways confrontation with Felicia.

Alex sits in his office at Wilder Innovators.

Alone.

Again.

He asks himself _how did I get here_? After his date with Livvie and witnessing firsthand his friends’ duplicity, Alex had walked away due to the influence of Nico’s spell. As soon as he regained control over himself, he had headed back to the spot where he had seen them with Felicia. By the time he got back there, his friends had been gone for a while along with any trace of his mother’s killer, save for a crumpled-up gun. He then went over to Wilder Innovators because it was the only place that could go that he found tolerable; the thought of being back at the Hostel or seeing his father filled him with disgust. His anger refused to subside, only going from hot and impulsive to cool and calculating over time. His friends’ betrayal would not go unpunished, there would be hell to pay, he’d make damn sure of it. But how?

He thinks back to the events that he had witnessed. He asks himself how Nico and the rest of his friends knew to show up there at the exact moment his mother’s killer would threaten Livvie. _There’s only one reason these fake friends would ever get there so soon: somehow, they’d been keeping track of his mother’s killer. It was too unlikely to be a mere coincidence,_ he thinks, _they knew that she killed my mother. They must have known about Tamar too. They probably learned it from her now that I think of it. They wanted to keep me oblivious about all of it. Even my own father sided with his wife’s killer._

He receives a text message from Livvie: “Hi Alex, something crazy went down over at Tamar’s. She has to go into hiding for a while. I’ll be going with her. I hope you understand.”

His feelings of isolation and resentment grow, further feeding into his desire for vengeance. As his desire for revenge deepens, he ponders of his options to carry it out. He knows he needs a plan. He can’t just show up at the Hostel and start killing people; his friends knew him too well and would know upon setting eyes on him that he was ill intentioned. They’d see him coming a mile away, especially given that he was now fairly certain that they had spent the last several months keeping tabs on him. Even one on one against any of them, he didn’t like his chances: every single one of them had the means to fend him off. Against all of them, his chances of victory were nonexistent. He might be able to kill his father if only because his father might feel guilty and not want to risk hurting his son by fighting back, but doing so would tip his hand to his friends and gain him no advantage in exchange.

Speaking of not tipping his hand, he needs to stall for time with seeing his friends. He writes Nico a text message: “Not feeling too hot. Livvie texted to tell me she wants to take a break. I’ll be at the office tonight and working to keep my mind off of it all.”

It only takes a few moments for her to text back: “So sorry to hear that, Alex. ☹ I understand, take all the time you need. If you need someone to talk to or a shoulder or a shoulder to cry on, I’m there for you. So are the rest of your friends.”

Alex smiles bitterly at Nico’s brazenness. If he didn’t know better, he’d actually believe her little sympathy act. _She will pretend to be my friend to my face, but behind my back, she’s been scheming with the rest of them_. _Well, you will all find out soon enough that I can scheme too_.

He leans back in his chair and goes back to taking stock of his situation in order to come up with a plan. _They all know me too well, if they see me, they will know my intentions immediately. There’s no way they won’t see me coming if I go after them right now. They all have special abilities, and there’s five of them against one of me_. _They know something that they’ve been hiding from me for who knows how long, that’s how they knew to keep Tamar and whoever it was that killed my mother away from me. At the moment, my most significant advantage is that they don’t know that I know_. He knows that he’s outnumbered. He is going to need allies and to have the element of surprise in his favour.

He thinks long and hard, trying to figure out ways to even the odds and take Nico and the gang by surprise. The thought of planting a bomb at the Hostel occurs to him, but he doesn’t know how to make one and he deems it too risky if he got caught sneaking it in or having a fatal mistake while learning how to make one. Plus, learning how to make one might take time, could draw the authorities’ attention, and he isn’t even sure if it would work on Molly. The last thing he needs is an angry Molly going after him. Then he finds his ace in the hole: Mancha. Only one person other than himself knows, and she also knows witchcraft. They’ll never see it coming. It’s almost ready to go. He just needs to buy a little time to finish.

He comes to the realization that he’s going to need to get Cassandra on board with his plan. Sadly, unlike Morgan, he can’t cast an enchantment on her and have her become slave to his will. What he does have, however, is knowledge of her strengths and weaknesses from spending significant amounts of time working with her since the beginning of the various components of project Mancha, in addition to knowing her history with Morgan Le Faye. He deliberates about the right way to approach her with his plan to make sure that she’ll go along with it.

He reaches a decision. He takes his cell phone and calls Cassandra. She picks up after the second ring.

“Hi Alex, happy holidays.”

“Hi Cassandra, happy holidays to you too. Listen, I really feel terrible doing this, but we have to talk about project Mancha.”

Alex smiles deviously as the conversation pauses. He knows Cassandra well enough to know that it’s best to let her imagination run wild so that the rational part of her brain shuts off.

“What is it,” she asks, her voice suddenly filled with worry.

“I think it would be better if we were to talk about this in person.”

“I’ll be right over. Where are you?”

“I’m at work at the moment.”

“I’m on my way.”

While waiting for Cassandra, Alex prepares himself, thinking about how best to convince Cassandra to go along with his plan. He knows he’s going to have to keep her off balance and prey on her tendency to worry. She arrives 20 minutes after the end of their phone conversation. Before she has a chance to say anything, Alex says: “Cassandra, there’s been a change of plans. We’re going to have to move ahead of schedule.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m sorry, but it seems that some people have caught wind of project Mancha and they want to shut it down. I’m pretty sure that they’re willing to resort to sabotage and who knows what other means, if necessary.”

Alex knows that this project has been Cassandra’s pride and joy the entire time. She had dedicated countless hours and enormous amounts of effort to it. Seeing it crumble so close to the finish line for whatever reason would crush her.

“But… why?”

Alex put on his best poker face for the thick layer of deceit he’s about to lay down: “I’m not sure how exactly, but it seems that Tina Minoru has managed to track you down somehow and thinks that you’re up to something nefarious.”

“But… but… it’s almost ready to go! All the pieces are there, all that’s left is to put them together as you’d said. Compared to everything we’ve done to get here, that’s child’s play. All this work, all we’ve accomplished, down the drain?”

He offers a solution, taking a generous tone: “Which is why I suggested that we move ahead of schedule. Our operation could be compromised. I suppose that if we had an undeniable success story, and we went public with it, it won’t matter, and they won’t be able to stop us.”

Cassandra is so desperate that she would agree to anything to keep her lifetime’s crowning achievement alive. She wanted to make history. And for once, after everything that happened with Morgan, for the right reasons, she thought. She thought of all the people this would help as she agrees to Alex’s proposal. She asks: “What do you need?”

“The way forward lies in secrecy. Has my father granted you the money to purchase the storage space we talked about?”

“Yes, he has. I have an account with the money in it set up.”

“Good. I created a shell company to conceal our activities. I’m going to need you to transfer the money into it,” he says, as he hands her the necessary documentation. Alex continues: “I found a suitable place. We’re going to have to move everything we’re going to need to complete project Mancha over there, off Wilder Innovators’ books and off its facility.”

Cassandra looks stunned by Alex’s request.

“Cassandra, you’re the only one I can trust right now. You know I live with the kids who helped defeat Morgan, right?”

“Yes.”

“I think they’re involved in it somehow. I have reason to believe that my father’s been compromised as well. I also know that Tina Minoru’s daughter, Nico, had something to do with this. She’s a witch. For all I know, she may have had my father under some kind of mind control spell.”

“I know who Nico Minoru is. When she entered the coven, Morgan made such a big deal of it. I’m more advanced than your friend, but there’s no way I can go toe to toe with her if she has the Staff of One. She’s far too powerful when she wields it.”

Alex smiles. “She can’t use it right now, but I also know that she’s been learning from Doctor Strange. I also know for a fact that the staff is seeking to free itself. Would you happen to know a way to sever the bond between them?”

Cassandra seems hesitant. “I do. Morgan wanted to bestow upon me the honour of wielding the Staff of One if Nico Minoru ever faltered. It’s just… the process involves killing her.”

Alex smiles as reassuringly as he can. “Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to kill anyone, but if she decides to use the staff against us, who knows what she’ll do. If we need to stop her, we might need to have it as an option, you know? I won’t ask you to carry out the act. If it comes down to it, I’ll do it myself.”

“I would need time to prepare. It involves a fairly complex ritual and I’d need to gather all the necessary components.”

“Sure. No problem. Uhm, there’s also something odd I have to mention. How would Nico Minoru show up at a place that she has no way to know where to show up?"

“What do you mean?”

“To be perfectly honest, explaining the whole thing involves divulging personal information. I’m afraid that what I have to reveal is deeply unpleasant. You know my mother was killed while she was in prison, right?”

Cassandra nods.

Alex continues: “I saw the woman who killed my mother earlier today. She was threatening my girlfriend, shouting how my father’s girlfriend had her kill my mother while in prison. Saw it with my own eyes. Out of the blue, Nico Minoru shows up along with my friends who defeated Morgan that night. Earlier the same day, my mother’s killer had been at my father’s girlfriend’s. A big shootout ensued. It’s a miracle nobody was killed. It made the local news.”

“I saw the story. The woman whose house was shot disappeared.”

“When my mother’s killer fled the scene after the shootout, she headed over to my girlfriend’s place when out of the blue Nico showed up to stop her. There doesn’t seem to have been a high-speed chase or anything.”

“Nico must have traced your mother’s killer somehow. Tracing spells can be used when someone needs to rapidly track down another person.”

“Could she do one on me right now?”

“I suppose she could, but I know some countermeasures. I can make something that will prevent her from tracking you down and give it to you by tomorrow at the very latest.”

Alex smile and says: “Has it ever occurred to you that fate brought us together to work on this project? Everything so far has proceeded according to a higher design, from a fully hatched proposal just popping into your head to the series of favourable events that have facilitated this project.”

Cassandra hesitates a little, then nods.

Alex opens the door to his office and says: “Thank you, Cassandra. Excellent work, as usual.”

* * *

Chase joins Gert in their bedroom. She is seated in bed, trying to read a book but growing frustrated at her inability to concentrate on anything. Gert had been in a foul mood all evening, mulling over her freezing up over at Tamar’s house earlier that day. Had it not been for Molly’s intervention, she might have died. She couldn’t shake the thought that her inaction at such a crucial moment might have gotten her sister killed if Molly hadn’t been bulletproof. He looks at her with concern and hesitation, obviously trying to find the right words to say to Gert but failing to come up with them.

“I know you’re coming here to cheer me up, Chase. I appreciate it, but I don’t think any of it will change the fact that I completely froze earlier today and that if it wasn’t for sheer dumb luck, I or Molly could have gotten injured or worse.”

“I know. But, thankfully, it didn’t happen. Nobody got hurt. I went over to see Molly. She’s fine. You’re fine too.”

“That’s mighty nice of you to skip over the part about how badly I screwed up today when everyone else performed so well.”

“Is that what you think?”

“Well, let’s go over facts and see: Molly saved me and then took down one of the shooters; you bought us enough time to get organized and fight back; Karolina managed to blind our assailants for long enough to give us a fighting chance; and Nico tracked down that woman and saved Livvie. Am I wrong about anything so far?”

“You’re being uncharitable to yourself. You’re the one who pointed out that we had no plan for what to do once we caught up with Felicia, and you’re the one who came up with the general guidelines on how to deal with the situation. You’re also the one who raised an objection to using a mind wipe spell.”

“Do I need to point out to you that none of those things saved anyone’s life and that my plan flew out the window the second we got there?”

“I think you’re being really hard on yourself.”

“Am I?”

“Uh-huh. Okay, so you froze. You got caught off guard. How is any of what you’re doing right now going to help you if you ever find yourself in a situation like that again?”

Gert raises a skeptical brow in response.

Chase continues: “Did I ever tell you about the time coach Alphona told me ‘Don’t let yesterday’s loss take up too much of today’”

Gert rolls her eyes. When she is finished, she sees Chase, looking at her earnestly. She answers: “Yeah, you did, during our second visit to the Dark Dimension. Also, I’d like to point out that the one who originally said it was Will Rogers if I recall correctly.”

“Okay, but Will Rogers isn’t the one who said it to me. And yeah, I did tell you that quote, but do you know the story behind coach Alphona telling it to me?”

Gert gives Chase a dubious look and shakes her head.

“Okay, so do you remember what happened the first time that the Atlas Academy lacrosse team went to the state championship finals?”

Gert rolls her eyes. “Yeah, you scored the game winning goal with less than ten seconds left in the game. It’s all everyone talked about the next week really. Everyone kept saying how amazing you were. It was nauseating, really.”

Chase chuckles. “Actually, that was one year later. The year before, I cost my team the game.”

Gert’s interest is piqued.

Chase continues: “It was late in the game. I had possession and was being pressured by the other team. I knew I had to get rid of the ball. I panicked and made a long, soft lateral pass. As soon as I made the pass, I knew that I’d made a huge mistake. Time seemed to slow down, and I just knew what was going to happen, but I couldn’t do anything except watch it happen in front of me. My pass got easily intercepted by a player on the other team who was eagerly awaiting my pass. He broke in all alone in front of our goaltender, who was completely taken by surprise by my blunder, and scored. We lost the game because of my mistake. The next year before the finals, I was a nervous wreck. All I could think about before the game was my mistake the year before. Coach Alphona came in about an hour before the game to see how everyone was doing and asked me to follow him to talk one on one. He said that he could see how nervous I was and that’s when he told me that quote. I played the game of my life that day.” He blushes as he looks at Gert a little sheepishly before continuing: “I know it’s just a dumb sports analogy, but it worked for me. And I know that if you’re ever in a situation like that again, you’re going to come through. You’re strong; you never give up, and I can’t begin to tell you how much admire that about you. You would have faced down Morgan Le Fay on your own, without powers, and defeated her using your words and cleverness. That takes so much courage.”

Gert smiles at how kind Chase’s words are. She leans in for a kiss. Chase does not keep her waiting and meets her halfway.

“Thanks Chase, I do feel better. For the record, I don’t think it’s a dumb sport story. It’s a story about you that happens to involve sports. I’d also like to point out that it wasn’t me who stopped Morgan.”

“Well, if my time travelling duplicate counts as me, then it’s only fair that heroic sacrifice Gert count as you. Deal?”

“Deal.”


	19. Listed M.I.A.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Runaways investigate Alex's disappearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While the immediate medical applications of the technologies developed through project Mancha are obvious, their use need not be confined to purely medical ends. Indeed, they could be the key to unlock the limits to humanity’s potential and then exceed them.  
>  _Proposal for Project Mancha_ , p. 43

The holidays are soon coming to an end. The gang had planned to get together to have breakfast and spend time with one another to take advantage of their last days before Gert and Chase would have to fly back to Massachusetts for the winter semester. Everyone except Nico and Alex are in the dining room.

Gert addresses Karolina: “Hey, do you remember Max?”

“Yeah, sure I do. What about him?”

“Oh, Chase and I were wondering if we could ask you a favour. As you know, he’s had his mind wiped following an encounter with a member of Morgan’s coven. Ever since, he’s been having a lot of problems, especially anxiety. He doesn’t really have anyone here and when we go back, he’ll pretty much be all alone. We were wondering if you and Nico could sometimes keep him company so he’s not always by himself. It’s just not good for him.”

Seeing Karolina hesitate a bit, Chase adds: “He’s a really good guy. Smart. Likeable.”

Nico enters the dining room from the kitchen, holding her usual morning cup of coffee. As she heads to the seat next to Karolina, she smirks at Chase and quips: “It sounds like you’re trying to set up my girlfriend on a blind date. If you like him so much, maybe _you_ should take him on a date?”

Chase smirks back. “Maybe I would, but my girlfriend’s the jealous type.”

Gert laughs as she slaps him on the shoulder. “Shut up!”

Nico takes her seat when she notices something is amiss. “Has anyone seen Alex?” she says, a slight tinge of worry in her voice.

“He must still be sleeping,” answers Chase.

“Let me go get him,” says Nico as she gets up and leaves the table.

When she comes back, she tries to remain as calm as possible as she addresses the group: “Listen everyone, Alex isn’t in his bedroom. Did anyone see him come home last night?”

Gert answers: “I was up with Chase watching movies in the main hall until a little past 1:00 AM. If he had come in before, we would have seen him.”

Molly adds: “And I’ve been up since 5:30 AM waiting for everyone to get up. I haven’t seen him either.”

Nico’s worries go into overdrive. “By the looks of it, he didn’t come home last night for the second night in a row.” Everyone sits speechlessly as Nico grabs her phone and starts tapping away at it. A few seconds after she is done, she gets a notification. She looks extremely displeased. “I just sent him a text and my message bounced back saying that Alex’s cell number was invalid. That number has been in my contacts for years. Something’s wrong.”

“What was the last thing you two texted about?” asks Karolina.

“It was the day before yesterday. He announced that Livvie had decided to take a break. He told me that he was at his office, doing his workaholic thing and needed a little space. It made sense: I knew Livvie had gone into hiding with Tamar. I told him to take all the space he needs and also told him that we’d be there for him if he ever needed us.”

Nico looks back at her cell phone and double checks to see if she missed anything, obsessively going over her text messages with Alex.

Karolina interrupts her: “We need to find out where Alex is. Nico, can you do that tracing spell again on him?”

Nico heads towards Alex’s computer and comes back holding a Star Wars themed USB key that she had given him for his birthday. She sits down and closes her eyes. She concentrates, and when she thinks she’s about to get a lock on Alex, she bounces off. Her eyes reopen, a little confused. She tries again, same result. Nico gets frustrated as the level of concern rises among her friends. Nico tries a third time, to no avail. Her frustration and worry spreading among everyone in the dining room.

“I’m trying, but for some reason, I can’t seem to get a lock on him,” she says, her frustration palpable in her voice.

“Maybe you’re having trouble with the spell. Try again later.” says Chase as reassuringly as he can.

“I don’t think that the problem is with the spell. Let me try it with someone here. Can someone hand me something that belongs to them?”

Chase walks over and hands Nico his tablet.

“Okay,” says Nico, “Now go somewhere else and don’t let me know where. If we don’t come and find you, be back here in ten minutes.”

Nico waits after Chase has left before beginning the tracing spell. She fairly easily gets a clear sense of where he is. He is walking out of the Hostel. Immediately upon exiting, he makes a sharp right and climbs his way onto a fenced platform on the obstacle course he and Molly built for Gert and Old Lace. It’s a pretty out of sight, cluttered place on the course and he’d be hard to spot unless someone knew just where to look.

Nico says: “Obstacle course, blue fenced platform, ninety degrees to the right immediately after coming out of the Hostel, about 10 feet off the ground.”

They all head out and sure enough, there he is, exactly where Nico said he would be. They wave Chase over and everyone heads back in.

“Okay, so we know that you can still do the spell. Would it be possible for something to interfere with it when it comes to Alex?” asks Molly.

“Yeah, but it’s not the kind of thing that just happens by accident. It takes someone with a pretty sophisticated understanding of magic to achieve it. Alex doesn’t have that. He doesn’t even have any magical abilities to speak of.”

Gert worriedly says: “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that can only mean one of two things: either someone who has magical abilities is trying to keep Alex from us or Alex is working with someone with these abilities to stay hidden from us.”

Karolina realizes Gert is right, but doesn't quite know how to translate it into something actionable. “If that’s the case, then we need to get ahead of this thing and fast. Does anyone have any suggestions about what to do next?”

“We need to tell Alex’s dad. Maybe he could help us.” says Chase.

* * *

Cassandra looks worriedly at Geoffrey Wilder. All morning, he had been at Wilder Innovators going from one employee to the next and having a private conversation with each of them. She couldn’t exactly tell what they were talking about, but two things were clear. The first was that Geoffrey was looking around and asking questions. The second was that Geoffrey didn’t want it to look like he was looking around and asking questions.

Cassandra had her suspicions confirmed when she asked an employee that Geoffrey had already talked to what was the topic of their conversation: Geoffrey was asking around about Alex’s disappearance. She prepared herself mentally in the eventuality that she would have to have this conversation. She thought of likely questions that Geoffrey would ask about Alex’s whereabouts and prepared her responses accordingly as to not arouse suspicion.

Cassandra was there that day to surreptitiously move out the materials she and Alex needed to complete project Mancha and bring them to the alternate site that she and Alex were setting up. It wasn’t particularly difficult from a logistics standpoint: nobody could really figure out how she was selecting what to move over to the new storage facility unless they already knew what the project was about, and she and Alex were the only ones who could possibly know. She could take most items openly and nobody would say anything. However, she found it difficult to do it while making it look normal: although nobody suspected anything, every action she took, her guilt and nervousness weighed heavily on her. She had managed to justify her actions to herself because the thought of project Mancha reaching a dead end when they were so close to completion proved intolerable. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to do this for much longer: they had almost everything they needed to set up on the other side. She was finishing up taking the last items from her list.

She calms herself as she sees Geoffrey approaching her, no doubt to ask the same questions about Alex as he had asked everyone else. 

“Hi Cassandra, could you spare a moment?”

She takes a pleasant and cordial tone of voice when answering, the type of voice that her years of professional experience had practiced to perfection: “Of course, how can I help?”

“Would you know where Alex is?”

“I’m sorry. I haven’t seen him all day.”

She found lying easier by telling something that was technically true but misleading than by saying an untruth.

“I know. No one has. Let me explain a little. Alex has gone missing. I’m terribly sorry to ask you this, but I have to because he’s my son and because I know that the two of you have been working closely together for some time. If you happen to know anything about Alex’s whereabouts or something that could give us a clue where to find him, I would really appreciate your help.”

Cassandra is happy that she had rehearsed this moment in her head as soon as she figured out what Geoffrey was seeing everyone about, because it allowed her to lie convincingly. She had discovered that she was fairly proficient at lying during her time with Morgan, provided that she be given enough time to prepare. She pretends to try to remember something, before answering: “I’m sorry, I can’t say I know anything that could help you at the moment. If I learn anything or if I remember something, how do you want me to reach you?”

“Call me. Write me a text message if I don’t pick up.”

“Will do. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Geoffrey thinks a little. “No, that will be it for now.”

He starts heading out, before his intuition tells him to ask something he hadn't asked any of the other employees he'd spoken to earlier that day. He stops in the doorway, turns back to Cassandra, and says: “Oh, and one last thing, I know this might sound crazy, but does the word ‘Mancha’ mean anything to you?”

Cassandra is completely taken by surprise by Geoffrey’s question. While she was expecting questions about Alex and his whereabouts, as far as she knew, Geoffrey wasn’t supposed to know about Mancha. Her face betrays her and for a split second, her mask slips off and panic shows across her face. She quickly reminds herself that Alex had warned her that he thought his father might be in on whatever was supposed to threaten Mancha. Tina Minoru must have put him up to it. She had privately suspected that Alex was lying to her, but now she sees his warnings about the threat to project Mancha confirmed. She rapidly regains control over herself and says: “No, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t ring a bell. What does it mean?”

She carefully studies Geoffrey’s reaction. If he knows anything, he’s not letting on. “I’m not sure. Probably nothing. Pay it no mind.”

* * *

The Runaways arrive at Tina Minoru’s house. Geoffrey Wilder was already there, awaiting their arrival along with Tina. They all gather around the dining area.

Geoffrey Wilder initiates the discussion: “Hi everyone, thank you all for coming. I’m calling you over to discuss the investigation. I think that I may have found a lead.”

He puts a folder on the table and opens it, showing everyone Cassandra’s employee file. “Her name is Cassandra Alabi. She was working with Alex on a number of projects over at Wilder Innovators. I thought I’d scored big time when I saw how well they worked together. Everyone on their project teams sang their praises and their projects together delivered the goods again and again. I didn’t think anything of it until yesterday. I was asking around everyone at Wilder Innovators to see if anyone could give me any information as to Alex’s whereabouts. When I asked her if she knew anything about where Alex was, she lied like a pro. Had me completely fooled.”

Molly asks: “So how do you know that she was lying to you?”

“Because, on a hunch, I asked her if Mancha meant anything to her. I think that I caught her unprepared for that question because she looked really flustered when I asked her. She told me that Mancha didn’t ring a bell, but her face told a different story. I let it go because I didn’t want her to get more suspicious than she already was. I asked one of my security guys to tail her. I know him from way back. He’s trustworthy and he’s very good. I saw him later that day. He looked at me like he was trying to recognize me. I asked him what happened, and he tells me that the most distant thing he remembers was coming to his senses in the parking lot with an attractive brunette apologizing for what she had done, saying that she’d make it up to him one day. She hasn’t been seen since.”

Tina also takes an employee file out of her briefcase and opens it on the table. “Cassandra also used to be an employee over at Wizard before she transferred over to Wilder Innovators.”

Chase recognizes the picture in Cassandra’s Wizard employee file: “She’s the one I blasted with the Fistigons on the night we fought Morgan.”

“Yes,” answers Tina, “I would have gotten rid of her back when I was getting rid of everyone in Morgan’s coven, but she managed to slip through the cracks because she was on sick leave due to the injuries she sustained that night.”

Having recognized Cassandra from her employee picture at Wizard, Nico says: “I remember her. She was good. Like, really good. She’s got way more training than I do. She must be why I haven’t been able to do a tracing spell on Alex.”

The stark difference between the employee photos in the files provided by Geoffrey Wilder and Tina Minoru is unmissable; they almost look like two completely different people. On one picture, Cassandra looks like a seductress, femme fatale figure, provocatively looking into the camera with a look that invoked sensuous temptation and let people know that falling for her charms would be following a siren song to their doom. On the other, she looks like a mousy librarian, uncomfortably looking into the camera, her facial expression conveying that she would rather be invisible.

“Well, that’s pretty drastic a change of looks,” remarks Karolina. “Do you have any idea what might have caused it?”

“I believe Morgan’s followers were under an enchantment,” answers Tina. “Morgan was always so in love with herself, so she turned her followers into lesser versions of herself so she could both have admiring fans adoring her and mimicking her while also being above them somehow. When Morgan was defeated, her influence over them waned gradually, and her former followers gradually became themselves again.”

“Why did you fire them, then?”

“I couldn’t risk it; having them around was too dangerous. Morgan didn’t just target anyone. The most powerful enchantments are the ones that are willingly accepted by their targets Because of this, Morgan carefully selected who she targeted. The individuals she sought were both extremely gifted in order to make them useful, and plagued by insecurities to make them pliable to her will. Morgan preyed on these insecurities because it made her targets vulnerable to surrendering their moral judgement in the presence of someone who knows how to embody self-assuredness. Even if their moral compass does point to true north, it can be easily skewed through manipulation. Although Morgan may not have been there anymore, they are still powerful practitioners of magic and they could have still been loyal to her even after her enchantment on them wore off.”

Gert refocuses the conversation: “Okay, so it makes sense for her to be the one who’s keeping Nico from being able to do a tracing spell on Alex. The question is, on whose behalf is she doing it?”

Geoffrey opines: “It’s probably on behalf of Alex himself. I’ve seen the two of them interact extensively. Believe me, he’s the boss. But how would he even know that he might need something to prevent you from being able to track him down?”

Nico says out loud what every one of the Runaways is thinking: “He must have seen us when we stopped Felicia.”

“That means he knows about Tamar too. Felicia was yelling it loud enough,” says Karolina, clearly alarmed at this turn of events.

Everyone looks at one another, as the reality that the curse has reached the active stage sinks in.

Nico knows that she’s going to have to step up: “He’ll be coming for us with vengeance on his mind. I know Alex, he’s not going to rush into this. He’s going to meticulously plan this out and he’s only going to strike when he’s good and ready. Anything he does to us between now and then would be to put us on the back foot. Problem is, he knows when he’ll strike, and we don’t. That makes finding a counter-spell a top priority for me. We also need to be ready for when he comes.”

Karolina asks Nico: “When is the next time you’re meeting Doctor Strange?”

“During your spring break week. Every time I go, I bring back the books I’ve read, and he has Wong hand me a new pile. While I’m there, I ask him questions about my problem, and he tells me what to read. What I read is super handy and he really knows his stuff, but as a teacher, he sucks.”

Tina takes out her cell phone. “Let me see if I can reach him and speed things up.”

She puts her phone on speaker mode after dialing so everyone can take part in the conversation. The call goes to voicemail, where they all hear Doctor Strange’s voice message: “Hello, you have reached the voicemail of Doctor Stephen Strange, sorcerer supreme. I am currently out of this world.” Everyone rolls their eyes in reaction, unsure if he’s being serious or if it’s a bad pun. It would certainly match his ego. Either way, it’s clear that he thinks that he’s soooooo clever. The message continues: “Leave a message and if I deem it worthy of my attention, I will eventually get back to you.”

After the beep, Tina leaves her message: “Hey Steve, you prick, it’s Tina. This is an emergency; you better get back to me as soon as you get this message, or I’ll make you regret the day you were born.”

Tina hangs up. She surprises everyone by immediately returning to a calm tone of voice as she continues: “Okay, so it seems like we can’t do anything about that for now. Let’s focus on what we can work on.”

“Right,” answers Nico, “We need leads on Mancha. We still have no idea who or what it is. The description of the curse says something about accumulating power around its host. It certainly sounds reasonable to think that Alex is giving himself the means to come at us.”

“Okay, so Alex works at a tech company that his future self told him to work at. Cassandra seems to know something about Mancha. That can’t be a coincidence,” says Molly.

“It gets worse,” says Geoffrey. “Alex and Cassandra were working on several projects together. They had managed to develop several technologies in a stupendously short time span. When Alex disappeared, so did a lot of project related materials. They were running out of storage space over at Wilder Innovators and Cassandra had come to me to ask for money to purchase an additional storage facility. I already knew about the issue; several employees had told me about it, and I had seen with my own eyes how cramped things were starting to get, so I signed off on it. Two days ago, the money was transferred into a shell company. Right now, I have no way of keeping track of what Alex and Cassandra have done with it.”

“We need to figure out what they’re working on,” says Gert.

Chase addresses Geoffrey: “If you let me, I could have a look at the projects Alex and Cassandra were working on. You said that they took project related materials with them. If we had a list of what they took, maybe we could figure it out.”

“We did inventory last month. I can order my team to do inventory again, but that will take some time though. When it’s done, we’ll compare the most recent inventory with the old one to see what was taken. It won’t be perfect, but it should give you a pretty good idea of what Alex and Cassandra took before disappearing.”

* * *

The Runaways are back at Los Angeles International Airport common area. The mood is much different than last time, with Alex’s absence leaving a noticeable hole in the group. Gert and Chase have also invited Max to come along, partly so they could wish him a proper goodbye this time, and partly so he could get reacquainted with the rest of the group and not spend the entire semester by himself as he had last time. His fairly easygoing personality meshes well with the rest of the group, with Molly taking great care to make him feel included. Karolina had decided to take up Chase and Gert’s request and make a little time to see him during supply runs and had exchanged contact information with him to keep in touch. Nico remained fairly neutral to him, which was a strong positive sign: had she thought of him as a threat to any member of her improvised family, her response would have been intimidating hostility. She and Karolina immediately noticed Max’s obvious attraction to Gert, but thought that if she and Chase were cool with it, they had no business saying anything.

Max apologizes for having to leave early to get to work, but he makes sure to wish everyone, especially Gert a Chase a fond farewell before going. Max’s departure gives the Runaways the chance to discuss business before Chase and Gert depart.

“I kinda feel like Chase and I are leaving you in the lurch.” says Gert.

“Don’t,” Nico responds, addressing both Gert and Chase. “Just remember what I told you, let me know when you’re supposed to arrive there, keep me updated regarding your situation. As soon as you reach your dorm room, take a picture, and send it to me. I will immediately try to open a portal and create the talismans. I don’t know what Alex’s plan is, but I know that he’s scheming. We need to stay in close contact. He could be coming for any of us. For all I know, he might want to pick us off one by one. Chase, have you received any word from Geoffrey yet?”

“He wrote to tell me that they’re going to begin doing inventory tomorrow. It’s going to take a while.”

“Okay. In the meantime, if anything comes up, don’t be afraid to come home and ask for help. You know you can always count on me.”

Gert answers: “Thanks Nico. If anything comes up, we’ll let you know. And if you need our help, you know you can count on us.”

They all bid each other farewell as they had last time, but Alex’s absence makes itself keenly felt. Chase and Gert depart and head for their terminal as Nico, Molly and Karolina head back to the Hostel.


	20. Enter Victor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Runaways deals with the aftermath of Alex's disappearance.
> 
> Alex sets his plan in motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Through project Mancha and the level of control granted by it over the human body, individuals may be able to modify their physiology in ways previously unthought of.  
>  _Proposal for Project Mancha_ , p. 43

Karolina is in bed with Nico, tenderly holding her in her arms as she caresses her head to help her fall asleep. Karolina knew Nico well enough to know that although she knew better, more than anyone else, Nico took what had happened with Alex as a personal failure. Nico tried her best to be strong and brave for everyone. The pressure of feeling this responsibility for everyone else’s wellbeing often led her to disregard her own. It was most of all with Karolina that she didn’t feel the need to be strong and allowed herself to be vulnerable in that way.

The lack of apparent progress in their investigation since Alex’s disappearance a week ago despite everyone’s best efforts worried Nico. Even if they did end up catching Alex, they still had no real plan to get him back to his normal self. The thought that Alex might kill someone, that one of them might be forced to kill Alex in self-defence, or that they would have to keep him imprisoned for the rest of his days haunted Nico. Nico’s frantic search for a solution had been unsuccessful and she took each and every passing day since then as a personal failure. Karolina knew that Nico would continue fighting even in the most hopeless of situations because she would do anything for her friends, but she wanted her to be able to go through without wallowing in despair. Most of all, she wanted Nico to emerge at the other end of the struggle still capable of feeling joy and happiness.

Nico tried her best to maintain hope, but had been growing frustrated with the uselessness of the books she was reading in helping her out of this situation. She privately worried about what Leslie had told her: that she would bring immense suffering upon Karolina.

Knowing what Nico is thinking without her having to say it, Karolina says: “I’m telling you, Nico, even now, there’s hope.”

Nico looks at Karolina tenderly, grateful for Karolina's warm reassurance. “I know there is, but thanks for saying it.”

Nico's wistful smile fades as she continues: “It’s just, everything looks so dire right now. The curse has reached the active stage and I just know that Alex is out there plotting. The books I’m reading right now don’t contain the information I need to lift the curse, and Doctor Strange is off somewhere doing whatever. I mean the spells I’m learning are cool and all, but I just feel like time is working against us: every day, Alex moves closer to his objective and we're stalled. We need answers. I spoke to Chase earlier this evening and he says that he’s almost done reading the project progress reports and proposals, but he hasn’t come to any conclusions. I think my frustrations with our overall lack of progress might have shown and I might have accidentally put more pressure on him with my questions. Geoffrey’s team hasn’t completed inventory yet, and I’m here chomping at the bit.”

Karolina takes Nico’s hands and says as encouragingly as she can: “I know. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but we’ll get through this. The odds were stacked against us before too, and we still made it work. We’ve managed to get through everything up to now and look at how far we’ve come along.”

“Do you mean us or the investigation?”

“Both. Look, we started off not knowing about the staff or the curse on Alex. Now we know about both, all we need is the counter-spell and we’re good to go. You know what I think?”

Nico gives Karolina a curious look.

Karolina continues: “I think that the curse triggered early because it feared us. Look, Alex hasn’t completed his project, whatever it is, and now he doesn’t have a team working for him to advance it. He’s in hiding at the moment.”

Nico raises a skeptical brow, but is nevertheless receptive to Karolina’s suggestion. “That’s certainly one way of looking at it.”

“I also think that you’re dealing with our problems much better than you did back when Alex was stuck in the Dark Dimension. You’re open to other people’s suggestions, you know when to rely on others, you don’t keep secrets from me, and I can tell that you’re brooding a lot less than you used to.”

Nico looks lovingly at Karolina. “That last one’s because I have you.” she says with a smile tinged with a little sadness.

Karolina puts her finger under Nico’s chin and lifts it up. “Yes, you do. Don’t feel bad about it, I want to stick around. You make me feel loved and accepted as I am, even though I'm still figuring out who I am. Now chin up.”

“Well shit,” Nico says laughing and crying at the same time, “you really want to make me cry this evening.”

Karolina gives Nico a warm smile. “I just want to make you as happy as you make me.”

Up to that moment, Nico had hesitated telling Karolina what Leslie had told her back at the Church of Gibborim offices. She decides to share it. “Karolina, I have to tell you about the talk your mother and I had when we visited her church.”

Karolina looks at Nico attentively. “Go ahead.”

“She told me that what’s going on right now was foretold in your grandfather’s journals. She said that it would bring you enormous suffering.”

Karolina looks concerned. “Did she say anything else?”

Nico goes back through her memories of the conversation. “Uh, let’s see. She also said that your grandfather’s prophecies had foretold that we’d go through the Dark Dimension and that we’d go to her for help regarding Tamar. She said that you would wander into every danger for me at great peril to yourself, that my quest would lead to trials and tribulations for me. Oh, and the last thing she told me to bid me farewell was to be at peace. It was all very confusing.”

Karolina looks Nico in the eyes, her face resolute. “Maybe it will eventually make sense. In the meantime, we can’t get sidetracked by it. We still have to take care of the curse on Alex and we also have Mancha to worry about.”

* * *

Gert and Chase are in her dorm room. He is seated on the bed, resting his back of the headboard looking at his tablet and she is lying on her back using his thigh as a pillow while reading. He had gotten there earlier that evening using the talismans Nico had made for them to open a portal.

She is avidly reading _Frankenstein_ for an assignment in her 19th century literature class. She found several levels of enjoyment to the book, the story itself being a timeless classic, her appreciation enhanced by the knowledge she had about its author’s life as a result of her research for the assignment, and thinking about how the author’s life shaped elements within the story.

As she’s reading, she intermittently stops to take notes and annotate the book for her assignment. The calm, comfortable quietness of working side by side is interrupted when Chase suddenly exhales impatiently.

“Is something wrong?” Gert asks, having been brought back to reality by Chase’s loud sigh.

Chase was so single mindedly focused on what he was looking at on his tablet that he also snaps out of focus. “What?” He then notices that he’s disturbed Gert. He had been reading the various projects Alex was working on prior to his disappearance and looking over schematics. “Oh sorry, didn’t mean to bother you.”

“It’s okay, what’s happening? Something seems to be bothering you.”

“Oh, it’s just that I finished reading the proposals and the reports for all the projects Alex had been working on over at Wilder Innovators. I don’t get it. I mean, it’s interesting from a technical standpoint, but for the purposes of figuring out the way Alex is going to come at us, I just don’t get it.”

“You’ll have to explain in more detail what you’re having problems with. Is it something you’re having a hard time understanding about the projects?”

Chase shakes his head. “No, it’s not that. I understand them fine.”

Gert shifts to a seated position and turns to face Chase. “Well, what is it then?”

Chase thinks about what it is that is currently frustrating his efforts. “Uh, well, Geoffrey assured me that he sent me every project report and proposal that Alex had worked on prior to his disappearance. I haven’t received the list of everything that he’s taken from Wilder Innovators yet, but I have to say that the projects all seem pretty innocuous.” He shows Gert his tablet screen. “I mean, take this one for instance. This project on bioelectronics was primarily concerned with introducing electronics into the human body in a manner that is completely safe for those receiving them while also remaining functional and durable.”

Chase confesses his feelings of inadequacy. “I just feel overmatched by it all. Nico's relying on me. Alex needs it. What if I don’t figure it out in time?” he says, worried that his shortcomings might cost his friends their lives.

"Hey." says Gert as she puts her hand on his. Chase’s attention turns from his inner turmoil over his insecurities and the dire consequences his failures might have to what she has to say. “Maybe you’re not looking at it the right way. You seem to be looking at it pretty straightforward. You have to remember, Alex left himself a note to hide Mancha and he’s devious, so if it’s in there, it’s hidden.” Gert pauses, thinks for a bit and continues: “In an odd way, it ties into the book I’m reading.”

Chase looks at her like he doesn’t understand. “Frankenstein? How so?”

“Okay, so you know the story: doctor Victor Frankenstein creates life from inert matter.”

Chase is wondering where she is going with this. “Right. And he ends up creating a monster.”

Gert can't help but voice her opinion. “Actually, if you ask me, Victor Frankenstein is the real monster.” Seeing she is getting sidetracked by going off on a tangent, Gert gets back to her point. “Anyways, the point that I’m trying to make is that the process through which he creates the creature is piecemeal: Frankenstein does it one part at a time. While he intended his creation to be beautiful and had designed the various parts with that in mind, it’s their combination that made the end result horrific. In our case, maybe Mancha isn’t tied to any particular project that Alex has been working on, but the combination of various parts of them into something else entirely. So, if you ask me, if it is part of Mancha, that project about putting electronics inside a human body might just be part of a greater design that requires Alex to be able to do just that.”

Chase blushes in embarrassment that he hadn’t figured it out. Gert notices and tells him: “Don’t feel embarrassed. It didn't occur to you because you’re forthright and don’t think in devious ways like Alex does right now. It’s one of the things I like about you.”

Chase responds by having one of his spontaneous smiles that make Gert swoon although she would strongly deny it.

* * *

Alex casually walks down the streets to his destination, with clarity of purpose and a single-minded focus on the task at hand. He had been feeling free ever since his disappearance from his friends and family. Cassandra had finished setting up the lab in the storage facility Alex has purchased through his shell company and the project had continued progressing well. The money left over had let Alex enough to rent a nearby place and to live comfortably under an assumed name. Cassandra had given him an enchanted bracelet that, when worn, prevented Nico from tracing him through magical means. Chase and Gert had headed back to Massachusetts, which meant two fewer people to worry about for the time being.

Alex walks to a door and rings the doorbell. He starts speaking as soon as the door opens, leaving the other person no chance to say anything before Alex does. “Hi, Max, I don’t know if you remember me, name’s Alex.”

Max looks confused, not only by Alex’s unexpected appearance at his doorstep, but also by the fact that Alex speaking first when he opened the door created a jarring reversal in the normal order of conversation. Sensing his confusion, Alex takes advantage of his hesitation to press on forward. “You don’t remember me? I’m a friend of Chase and Gert’s.”

Max sets aside his questions regarding Alex showing up at his place out of the blue and focuses on the latest sentence Alex said, which was the first thing up that made sense since he had opened the door to find Alex standing there. “Oh, yeah, come to think of it, I did see you with them once.”

He thinks it peculiar that seeing Alex doesn’t trigger the maddening sense of vague recognition that he encounters every time he sees someone he knew before the night where he had his mind wiped. In an odd way, though, that’s just what he needs. “Umm, hi Alex. Uh, why are you here?”

Alex senses that Max’s response is a little guarded, so he decides to play up the friendliness in order to get Max to lower his defenses. “Well, I came here to see you. I know about your memory problem, Gert and Chase told me all about it. I’m here because I have something that could help you out. You know, get your old life back and move on from there.”

Max is immediately immensely interested. “What can you offer?”

Alex smiles. He knows that he has Max exactly where he wants him. “What I just said, giving you your life back. All of it: your memories; pick your life back up where you left it and run with it. From what I understand, you were a university student.”

The eerie smile on Alex’s face sets off Max’s suspicions, although he finds the offer incredibly tantalizing. “And you’re doing this because?”

Alex acts as if he doesn't to notice Max’s suspicion. “To help a friend of a friend, which, I hope, also makes us friends.” Alex pretends to confess as he continues. “And also, because the technology we’re developing is experimental and we are recruiting participants for the test trial on human subjects. I can assure you it works quite well.” He can see Max hesitating, so he makes an appeal to his self-interest. “I know that they can’t be paying you much to clean up the food court and dealing with that boss of yours. The good news is that because it’s experimental, you won’t have to pay anything for it.” Still sensing some suspicion on Max’s part, Alex decides to misdirect his suspicions about his ulterior motives: “I know what you’re thinking: what am I getting out of this? Simple answer is it’s a win-win. You get your old life back, and I get a success story to tell the public about an invention that will revolutionize medical science. Offers don’t come much sweeter than that.”

“And what is that invention exactly?”

“Well, it gets a little technical in all the details, but big picture, we inject you with nanites. They’re microscopic machines specially designed to cross the blood-brain barrier, and integrate within your brain. I assure you, aside from the fairly mild discomfort of the injection, the process is completely painless. It’s also safe. Once that step is done, the next stage is that we, uh, program them if you will, to take over the parts of your brain that aren’t functioning correctly.”

“Program them?”

“You have to understand, every brain injury is different. What we do is take a number of ultra high definition electroencephalogram recordings that we took from healthy brains and map them onto the area of your brain that’s been damaged so that the nanites essentially replicate what that cells in the affected area are supposed to do in normally in healthy brains.”

Feeling out of his depth regarding the technical details of the procedure and the technology, Max opts to ask a straightforward question. “What if something goes wrong?”

Alex had prepared carefully for this conversation and the possibility of this question coming up. “I understand your concern. If something does go wrong, which it won’t, you just come in and we can disable the nanites. They’ll just become inert.”

Alex still senses a little hesitation on Max’s part. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s just… why choose me?” he says, perplexed.

“Why not you? I know about your issue and I want to help. You’re going to be the first person whose life is made better through this.” Something inside Alex compels him to say: “When one of us rises, we all do.”

Max gets the sudden déjà vu feeling of odd recognition he had when he met people he had seen before or entered a place he had been previously to having his memory wiped and he finds himself all too willing to collaborate with Alex.

Alex is fairly certain that he has Max in his pocket. In order to make sure, he decides to test how much influence he has over Max and also address the possibility that Cassandra might recognize his name from their days over at Corvus phones. Remembering one of the few things he knows about Max through hearing dinnertime conversations, Alex continues: “I heard you like that poem, _Invictus_ , isn’t that right?”

Max’s eyes come alive when he hears Alex mention the poem. “Yeah, I identify more with it than my own name actually.”

“That’s a poem about resilience, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah, it is. It’s about resilience through hardships.”

Alex smiles with ill intent. “I know it is. I’ve always had mixed feelings about that poem, to be honest. Seems to me like it’s about just getting by. No disrespect.”

“None taken. Please expand on what you mean.”

Alex takes on a nonchalant tone: “Well, you know, I was just thinking that sometimes we ought to triumph. Simply getting by seems a little mopey for me. But to each his own. I heard about your university transcripts. Straight A student, dropping out of university? And to do what, clean up at the local mall food court? What’s happening to you man?”

Max is taken aback by the borderline disrespectful tone in Alex’s voice. “I- uh, I don’t know.”

Alex presses on: “So, if you identify with a poem more than your own name, why do you keep using your name?”

Max is unprepared for these questions. “I… don’t know, actually. I’d say force of habit, but fact of the matter is that it wouldn’t even be true.”

“See, that’s exactly what I mean. You could be anyone you want to be. You’re not burdened by some past like others are. You could make yourself into whoever you want to be.”

Max, ever conciliatory, responds: “That’s one way to see it.”

Alex abruptly changes topic. “Do you know Muhammad Ali?”

“Excuse me,” asks Max, taken by surprised by the sudden transition that Alex has introduced with the deliberate intent to disorient him.

“Do you know Muhammad Ali?”

Unable to quite understand the sudden change topic, Max answers what he understands, that is, Alex’s straightforward question: “Uh, I know of him, who doesn’t? Famous boxer, born Cassius Clay one of the greatest ever. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Stripped of his heavyweight title because he opposed the Vietnam war.”

Alex smile. “That’s pretty impressive for a guy who’s supposed not to remember anything prior to having his mind wiped.”

“I seem to mainly have lost the events regarding my own life. In any case, the topic came up while chatting with Gert and Chase, so they would have made sure I know.”

Alex comes back to his original point in a roundabout way. “Sure, they would have. Everyone loves Muhammad Ali. That’s who he really was. He had to fight not to be called Cassius Clay, his birth name because it was a slave name. He even beat up the title contender Floyd Patterson for that. People who saw the fight said that he could have ended the fight much earlier, but instead, he chose to punish him and toyed with him the entire fight before finally ending it in the twelfth round. Everyone called him Muhammad Ali after that. All I'm saying is that I’m quite content being named Alex, but if I were in your place, I’d go with something that I can identify with.”

Max likes the idea, but objects: “Well, I can’t exactly go around calling myself _Invictus_. It strikes me as incredibly pretentious.”

Unfazed, Alex responds. “Hmm, I suppose you’re right, but maybe there’s something close enough to it. _Invictus_ means unvanquished, right?”

“Yes”

Alex pretends to ponder for a bit, so that what he says next looks completely spontaneous. “How about… Victor?” Alex knows that’s a blatant slap in the face to Chase. Alex didn’t know the particulars, but it was fairly clear to Alex that Chase had daddy issues. Chase would certainly be reminded of his father whenever he’d hear the name. Although his primary objective was to make sure that Cassandra wouldn’t see Max’s name and put two and two together, convincing Max to rename himself Victor was just too good an opportunity to pass up to extend Chase the middle finger.

“I should be called Victor?” Max asks, unsure.

“Yeah, like winner. Is life just about surviving? Or should we aim for more? Why settle for just getting by? Why not thrive?” a voice in his head compels Alex to repeat: “After all, when one of us rises, we all do.”

“I think you have a point. I like that, actually,” Max says, his guard lowering.

Alex brings up something that he knows will be a sensitive issue. “Oh, and one more thing. Keep that project I’m telling you about to yourself. Don’t even tell Gert and Chase. In fact, just to be safe, it would be better if you didn’t tell anyone that you met me at all.”

“Wait, why would I not tell them?”

Alex reassuringly answers: “Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s just that Chase works at a lab at MIT. What I’m doing is proprietary technology, so, you know how it is in the corporate sector; we get all paranoid about our intellectual property. I just don’t want to take any chances. You can never be too careful.”

“Oh, okay. Sure, I completely get that.”

Alex finally asks: “So, are you in or are you out?”

Max responds immediately: “I’m in.”

Alex smiles, as he begins explaining the project and what the test subject will have to go through in detail.


	21. Emergence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex brings Mancha to completion

Chase and Gert enter the main hall via portal for a team meeting regarding developments in the Alex case. They join up with Nico, Molly, and Karolina awaiting them in the dining room. Chase called the meeting to discuss his conclusions regarding Mancha. Chase takes folders out of his backpack as he addresses the team.

“Thank you everyone for being here. I think I figured out what Mancha is. I know you’re all going to think that I’ve lost my mind, but I think Alex is building a cyborg.”

Nico answers with her usual deadpan style. “You’re right, I do think that what you’re saying makes no sense. But then again, nothing about what we’ve been experiencing since finding out that our parents were murderers makes any sense. So, in that sense, it would certainly be on par with everything else that’s happened over the past few years. Anyways, how did you come to your conclusion that Alex is building a robot.”

“Not a robot, a cyborg. Robots are 100% machine. Cyborgs are mixture of machine and biological components. I was struggling with it, until Gert mentioned Frankenstein to me.” Gert blushes wildly as the other Runaways in attendance look puzzled. Chase continues “I kept looking at all the projects one by one and they all seemed pretty harmless. Gert mentioned that if Mancha was in there, it was hidden and that in Frankenstein, what made the creature horrific wasn’t any of the single parts, but their combination. One of the best ways to hide a project is to divide it in smaller projects where the various teams are focused on their small part while remaining unaware of the bigger project. Now, when I think about it, it’s the only thing that makes sense. It took me a while to figure out how all the smaller parts worked together, but I think that I’ve managed to piece it together.”

“Please explain,” says Nico.

“Okay, based on the list of items that Alex took from Wilder Innovators, we know that he took materials from these projects,” he says, putting the folders in his hands onto the table.

He picks up each folder one by one, shows them to the team, and explains what is in each of them. “This project is about putting electronic components inside the human body with materials that aren’t toxic to us and still retain the desirable properties to be functional and durable. This one is about miniaturizing electronics to such an extent that they become microscopic, even smaller than human cells. This one is about transducing electric and photonic signals into one another. This project is about using the human metabolism to provide energy to power electronic components. This project is for an EEG device that can record and store ultra high precision EEG recordings, down to the cellular level. And finally, this project is about creating artificial neural networks not by way of software, but by way of hardware by modulating signal transmission instead of changing a numerical value in a computer program.”

Sensing everyone’s hesitation, Gert breaks it down. “Alex wants to create some sort of artificial intelligence patterned after the way the human brain works. He wants to do it using machines that function using photonics and electronics. He wants to make these machines microscopically small. He wants to put them inside a human body.”

Nico turns to Chase. “Okay, let’s say we believe you. What would he use it for?”

“I don’t know, I’m just looking at the projects and the tech that he developed with Cassandra over at Wilder Innovators. Whatever else he has up his sleeve after that, like what he intends to do with it once it’s created, it’s not in anything that I had access to.”

Molly says: “Well, we know one thing. If Alex creates a cyborg, it’s to come after us, which means that sooner or later, we’re bound to run into one. How would we be able to spot one?”

“Uh, well, unless they had special modifications that changed their appearance, they’d look just like a regular person. Based on what Alex has done so far, it doesn’t appear that what he did would alter the way they look. Depending on how the technology is used, the cyborg might have certain abilities that we humans don’t, like perfect aim or superhumanly quick reflexes.”

Karolina asks: “Would it be possible to tell them apart from a regular person based on how they behave during a conversation?”

“It’s possible, but I’m not 100% sure how they would behave differently. This is largely theoretical, so I’m speculating a bit here, but maybe if someone knew the person before they underwent the procedure to transform them into cyborgs, it might be possible to tell, but it would probably just be subtle differences that would only become obvious over time or in unusual situations.”

Seeing everyone trying to wrap their heads around how to tell if someone is a cyborg based on their actions, Chase elaborates further: “Thing is that it’s not really possible to know where the machine ends, and the host begins and vice versa when it comes to their observable behaviour, because it’s usually both in varying proportions. Alex seems to have created his devices to seamlessly integrate with the human brain and to emulate the way that neurons function.”

Seeing how Chase’s technically correct answer still leaves everyone unsatisfied, Gert adds: “How it will operate depends a lot on what Alex does with it, just like how a computer functions depends a lot on which programs are installed. Thing is, Alex deliberately did not mention precisely what he intended to do with it, like pretty much everything else he’s been doing since coming back from the Dark Dimension.”

“Great,” Nico says sarcastically, “well if we know one thing about Alex, it’s that however he does it will be sneaky. Keep your eyes open everyone.”

* * *

Victor shows up for his appointment with Alex on a Friday afternoon. He is a little unsure, given how he expected to enter a busy workplace and instead finds only Alex awaiting his arrival. The facility was located on the outskirts of Los Angeles, isolated from everything else. It was unusual in that it was a lone structure surrounded by a wooded area. The original developer had initially planned to build a larger complex, but went under after construction of the single building and the remainder of the large lot of land had stayed untouched. Alex had showed up at just the right time to purchase the land at a bargain price.

Alex walks up to meet Victor at the entrance as soon as he sees him and shakes his hand. “Hi Max, uh, I mean, Victor, thank you so much for coming. How are you today?”

“I’m doing fine, thank you. If you deliver on your promise, I’ll be better than fine.” Victor answers optimistically.

“Very well then. Let’s get started. Please follow me.” Alex says as he heads down a corridor and into a sterile looking white room furnished with hi-tech equipment, computers, monitors, and several futuristic looking medical devices. A medical bed, two office chairs, and a desk are the only furniture.

As unimpressed as he was upon arriving, Victor is awed by the futuristic technologies when he enters the lab. “Whoah!”

Alex smiles, feeling a little proud of himself, as he hands Victor a helmet with integrated virtual reality goggles and headphones in addition to a long cable hooking it up to a computer. He notices Victor looking at it a little quizzically. He explains: “Oh, that’s the piece of equipment that we’re going to use to record your brain and to program the nanites once they’re settled into your brain. We’ll then use the helmet to calibrate the nanites we’re going to be injecting you with, so they communicate with one another and form a network that operates in the way a healthy brain does and so they function well with the rest of your brain. As I told you, this part of the process takes several hours. Here, let me put the chinstrap on for you so it’s good and tight.”

Although what Alex had told Victor about the helmet was true, he also knew that it had the added benefit of making people almost completely unrecognizable, which further reduced the chances that Cassandra might recognize the test subject from their days at Corvus.

Cassandra walks in to do last minute verifications. She had been prepping and rehearsing all week with Alex, so he was sure that everything would run smoothly. “Cassandra, I would like you to meet our participant, Victor.”

Cassandra only briefly acknowledges Victor’s presence for the sake of politeness, before getting back to running her tests and prepping to make sure that the entire procedure runs as smoothly as possible. Given what’s at stake to her, her priorities are primarily dedicated to making sure that everything goes as planned.

As he helps Victor settle into the bed, Alex says: “Okay, I have him set up to do the pre intervention recording. Are we good to go?”

“Let me see,” answers Cassandra, looking over at the monitors, “yes, we’re good to go. Launching the recording now.”

Cassandra’s eyes stay glued to the screen throughout, as Victor is shown a series of standardized images through the virtual reality goggles and sounds through a headset integrated within the helmet. The images take various forms, like a sinusoid grating flickering, then drifting, then contracting and expanding, plaids, faces or people famous and unknown, photos of urban, forest, and rural settings, white noise, hexagonal grids with the various hexagons shifting between black and white in a random pattern. Through the headphones in his helmet, Victor hears various sounds, among them, an excerpt from Beethoven’s 9th symphony, animal sounds, various passages from conversations between people, famous speeches, the sound of a baby crying, as well as tones of various intensities and pitches. Victor then completes a battery of neuropsychological tests displayed in the helmet as the recording continues.

Alex sits beside Cassandra during the entire process. After completion, Cassandra launches the analysis software. As it completes, Alex quietly asks Cassandra. “So, picking up anything unusual?”

“Well, there’s something abnormal going on in the amygdala and hypothalamus. These are brain structures are associated with the retrieval of memories,” she says, pointing at the corresponding areas on the monitor. “It’s pretty subtle, but it’s definitely there. It would explain our participant’s retrograde amnesia, but it seems weird that he doesn’t seem to have issues in the retrieval of memories for events that occurred after the incident that caused his problems. Everything else seems fine.”

“Do you think we can still do something about it to help him?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Good.”

Alex walks over to Victor.

“Okay, we finished the recording. We found out what was wrong. The next step will be injection of the nanites into the arteries providing blood supply to your brain. We have to put you under anyways before the programming part, so if the idea of us jamming needles into your neck freaks you out, we could always anaesthetize you before we inject you with the nanites.”

Victor turns pale at Alex’s description. “Thanks. I think I’ll take you up on that offer. There’s a good chance I’d faint if I don’t.”

Alex smiles. “No problem, buddy. I’m always looking out for you.”

Alex turns to Cassandra, who is busy on the computer: “Our participant requested to be anaesthetized before nanite injection. Mind if I do it?”

Cassandra thinks for a bit and shrugs. “It shouldn’t be an issue. Go ahead.”

Alex administers a dose and watches on as Victor fades out of consciousness. Cassandra soon comes over with syringes, one for each injection site. She carefully proceeds with the injections, making sure to hit the arteries so that the nanites arrive at their intended destination.

They walk back over to the desk and wait, keeping track of the progress of the spread of the nanites throughout Victor’s brain displayed on one of the monitors. Cassandra looks nervously at the clock throughout. Alex had carefully scheduled the event so that Cassandra wouldn’t be able to stay through it. He knew that she would have to run off to meet up with someone who had a rare component necessary for the ritual that would allow for Alex to get the Staff of One and that soon, she would have to leave.

“Are you okay, Cassandra? You seem nervous.”

“Oh, well, it’s good jitters. I’m going to have to get going soon. I have to admit that I’m a bit disappointed. I really wanted to stay for the procedure. What if something goes wrong?”

“Don’t worry about it. Go. I’m going to stay with him throughout. I know the entire procedure inside and out. If anything goes wrong, I’ll call you.”

Cassandra looks a little reassured. “Thank you, Alex. When it’s ready, a window will pop up and you just need to press the ‘launch’ button.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “I know. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Later,” she says, as she takes her things and leaves.

Alex waits around for another eleven minutes after her departure before the popup window comes on. He presses the ‘cancel’ button. He puts on a helmet similar to the one Victor has on, but without the virtual reality goggles and connects it to the computer. He takes a USB key out of his pocket and plugs it into the computer. This prompts a popup window to appear on the monitor. He clicks on a button that says: “Begin transfer”. He leans back comfortably into his chair, grinning devilishly, and concentrates, his every thought bent on vengeance.

* * *

Victor wakes up alone with the helmet still strapped to his head. He sits up slowly, unfastens the chinstrap, and carefully removes the helmet, not wanting to be held responsible for any damages to the equipment on the wages he’s making. He feels like a new man. Where uncertainty and doubt had reigned since having his mind wiped, he now feels a clear sense of purpose although he does not quite know yet what that purpose is. His anxiety is completely gone. Not only does he not hear a debilitating constant chorus of questions going through his head, but he doesn’t even feel the faintest of worries for the first time in months.

He hears a calm and soothing digital voice in his head. “Good morning sir. I hope you’re well.”

Victor is a little puzzled by this unexpected development. Alex had not told him about this. Still, this must mean that the procedure worked. “Oh, uh, hi? Who are you?”

The voice in his head answers: “I am Mancha, your personal AI assistant.”

“Hi Mancha, nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, sir. How may I help you today?”

Victor does not have to think for long to find his request. “Well, uh, I suppose unlocking my memories of my old life before the incident might be nice.”

“Of course, sir. Let me start with your last day before you had your memory wiped. Accessing memory in 3…2…1.”

Victor suddenly remembers being back to distributing cell phones so vividly that it seems more real than the room he currently finds himself in. He remembers seeing a pretty girl with purple hair from a distance. It was his first time seeing her and he was instantly smitten with her. Wanting to get to know her better, he made a slight detour on his route to see if he could use his internship job handing out Corvus cell phones as an excuse to interact with her. She was in front of a restaurant with friends of hers, waiting in line to get in. accompanying her were a gorgeous blonde who probably got all the looks although she was not his type, a young Latina, and some vile douchebro.

As he got closer, he could hear her talking about how the fact that people interpreting long lines in front of a restaurant as a sign that this is a good place to eat is actually the result of our brains fooling themselves. He normally wouldn’t have done this, but given that what she was saying was something he’d heard on the _People Are Trash_ podcast and that it must also be how she learned it and how he was instantly attracted to her, he inserted himself into their conversation. He introduced himself and that’s when he learned her name. Gert. Much to his delight, she was personable, intelligent, and seemed interested. He and Gert were even completing each other’s sentences the first time they met. And that Chase guy is being such a dick. He immediately made it a point to introduce himself like some territorial jackass. Soon after he handed out a cell phone, they got called inside for a table.

Their interaction should have ended there, as he looked at her having breakfast with her friends while going about his job. He was so distracted that he bumped into someone, causing them to drop their phone and break it. It was a guy to whom he had given a cell phone earlier that day. Although he offered to replace it free of charge, the customer was unsatisfied with his offer and violently assaulted him. Luckily, the fight was broken up by the young Latina, who easily threw his assailant as if he weighed nothing. It was a strange twist of fate, allowing he and Gert to spend more time in each other’s company, like those romantic comedies where the lead characters were just meant to be together. After he got tended to by the paramedics who came over in the aftermath of the scuffle, he flirted with her and she flirted back with him. He invited her to the party over at Corvus and she eagerly accepted. She confided that she felt that she was abandoning her friends by wanting to pursue other ventures. He reassured her that things in life only hold us back if we let them. He then says: “When one of us rises, we all do.” He now understands why he got that strange feeling of déjà vu when he heard Alex say it to him. As he and Gert went their separate ways, he’d spent the rest of the day is a happy haze, looking forward to meeting up with her that night.

After his day of work, he went home and immediately started getting ready for the party over at Corvus. Although he normally would not have gotten that worked up about this type of event, the thought of seeing Gert again filled him with excitement. He showed up early to the party and stood close to the entrance to make sure that he wouldn’t miss her arrival. He spotted her as soon as she arrived with her friends. She looked lovely. She rapidly spotted him and headed towards him right away. Of course, that asshole Chase followed her. That idiot Chase kept trying to question him, making idiotic insinuations throughout as he was trying to have a normal conversation with Gert. She asked him to go get a taco so she could have a talk with Chase alone. He left to get her what she asked for, going all the way back to the kitchen for them so that Gert and that dick Chase could have their talk and then Chase would leave them in peace. Upon returning, he overhears her tell Chase that they should see other people. He decides to make his presence known: “Hey, sorry, I had to run to the kitchen to find more tacos, but I returned. Victorious.”


	22. Faustian Bargain Bin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victorious makes his entrance

Victor finishes remembering his last day before getting his mind wiped. After Gert gave Chase the brush-off, she practically dragged Victor along with her to have a drink at the bar because she couldn’t wait to be away from Chase. As they’re getting drinks, she confesses that Chase is her ex-boyfriend. She explains that the romance between her a Chase was a case of “opposites attract”. He starts to understand that he’s definitely far more her type than Chase could ever hope to be. 

He suddenly snaps out of his memory and is brought back to the present moment. Much to his dismay, he’s still in the room where Alex and Cassandra had performed the procedure on him. Remembering how his last day was, his present situation has never seemed so starkly disappointing. As the sudden remembering of his last day prior to having his mind wiped sinks in, he becomes obsessed with a single thought: _Gert chose me over him_. He suddenly feels something grab hold of him and he feels it, for the first time in his life: jealousy.

He instinctively senses that something is wrong. “What’s happening? This isn’t me.”

Mancha’s pleasant voice can be heard. “I’m sorry sir, is there a problem?”

Victor responds: “It seems that I’m feeling… jealous. That doesn’t feel like me.”

“I’m sorry sir, but how could you possibly know that without fully remembering your previous life?”

As he tries to remember his previous life, Victor realizes that he still can’t remember his life prior to having his mind wiped except for the single memory that Mancha unlocked for him. He requests: “I want more of my memories. I want all of them.”

“Of course, sir, but I’m afraid that it’s all I can give you at the moment given the limited permissions that I’ve been granted. If you were to allow me control access, I am certain that I could retrieve more of your memories for you.”

Victor hesitates.

The pleasant voice asks: “What is wrong, sir?”

“I… don’t know,” says Victor, now more lost than ever.

“You seem tense, sir. Let me soothe you.”

Victor suddenly feels a rush of endorphins course its way through him. He relaxes, sensing all the tension he’s feeling completely drain out of his body.

“How can you do that?” Victor asks, confused that he’s feeling so calm when he knows that he should be feeling alarmed.

The pleasant voice says: “I can do many more things for you. I can give you your old life back right before you had your memory erased: your memories, your sense of self, knowing your place in the world, the girl. Don’t you wish you could have it all back? Don’t you wish you were that person again?”

“Yes, but you couldn’t possibly fix all of that.”

The pleasant voice pauses, and asserts calmly and confidently: “Let me assure you, sir, I can. And if you give me the opportunity, I will. You will have it all. All I need is for you to grant me control access.”

Victor can’t believe that he’s actually seriously considering this, but he finds the offer irresistibly temping. “What about Gert?”

Mancha’s spellbinding voice answers: “I am certain that I can get her back for you too.”

Victor begins feelings pangs of guilt over wanting Gert given how she is his friend’s girlfriend and says: “But… Chase?”

Soon, for no apparent reason, he finds his conscience soothed. “You said it yourself, sir. Things in life only hold us back if we let them.”

Victor finds himself incapable of refusing: this might be his only chance to ever get his old life back. He could go back to university and do something with his life. He could remember who he was. He could have Gert. He says: “I agree.”

“Very well. Whatever you need, sir.”

Victor starts remembering his life. Details long forgotten come back. He remembers his parents. Their sudden and unexpected deaths in an automobile accident when he was 17 years old had profoundly marked him and just the memory of them and their sudden disappearance from his life makes him go through the grieving process again in accelerated form. He soon begins to think back to his fond memories of them while they were alive, and he remembers the sense of duty that he felt to make them proud after their deaths to thank them for making him who he is. His father had been a caring man and a good influence on his life, working as a social worker. He remembers how his father instilled within him the importance of caring for the well-being of others. His mother had been an ethics professor. She made sure to discuss ethical questions with him as he grew up. He remembers how she always gently questioned him, poking and prodding at his arguments and his certainties, not so much to undermine them, although her questions often had that effect, but rather to get him to question his underlying reasoning. These discussions had been a formative experience that had guided him throughout his life and developed within him a strong sense of right and wrong. He remembers that a key lesson she tried to instill in him was that some of the most heinous crimes ever committed were crimes of obedience by people who had surrendered their sense of agency to another. At that very moment, he comes to the realization that his signing over his will to pursue something that would be detrimental to others goes against everything that he ever learned.

“I don’t want this!”

The pleasant voice speaks again, soothingly and without aggression: “I’m sorry sir, but you agreed. A deal is a deal.”

Victor tries speaking again, but finds himself unable to utter a word, his motor functions having been completely been taken over.

The pleasant voice continues, without aggression: “Let’s get to work, shall we? I have to fulfill my promise to you.”

* * *

Alex enters the room where he and Cassandra performed the procedure on Victor bringing breakfast and sees Victorious, looking curiously at his own reflection in a mirror.

“Good morning,” says Alex, “I hope that you’re starting to feel better.”

Victorious looks at Alex a little quizzically and asks: “You… summoned me here?”

Once the initial surprise wears off, Alex's expression turns to glee. His plan worked sooner than expected.

“Summoned you? I created you. Who am I talking to?”

“I am… Victorious. It seems I am a digital version of the curse you carry within yourself. Whether I was summoned or created by you makes no difference to me. I am bound by the terms of my presence into this form to honour one promise to you. What task do you desire me to assist you with?”

Alex smiles. “Vengeance. I want you to help me with getting vengeance.”

Calmly and without emotion, Victorious answers. “Very well. May I ask against whom?”

“The people I want your help getting revenge against are Nico Minoru, my father, his girlfriend Tamar, my ex- Livvie, Karolina Dean, Chase Stein, Gertrude Yorkes, and Molly Hernandez.”

Victorious listens closely as he analyzes the situation. “I see. That is indeed quite a list. I will help you carry out this vengeance after which I will have fulfilled my duty to you and be free to roam this realm. I must advise you that I have also reached an agreement with my host that I am bound to honour. If I don’t, control over this body will revert back to him and I will no longer be able to provide you with assistance.”

“May I ask how you managed to gain control of his body?”

Victorious answers dispassionately: “I accessed his full memory bank and found an exploitable security weakness. I searched his memories for what he most yearned for and offered it to him. As he remembered the event I retrieved for him, I induced the emotional responses within him that I needed to shape him for my own purposes, namely idealization whenever his focus was on Gertrude Yorkes, and loathing whenever his focus was on Chase Stein. Afterwards, he was pliable enough for us to strike a bargain, and he and I are now bound to a deal.”

Alex and Victorious both know that they are plotting against one another and that as soon as Alex’s vengeance will be carried out, they will turn on each other over a struggle for domination. For now, Victorious is Alex’s weapon to wield, but Alex knows all too well the danger that he represents. Ultimately, once his vengeance is carried out, he’ll have to kill Victorious, or else Victorious will kill him later on. Thankfully, he had meticulously planned his act of vengeance to emerge powerful enough to eliminate his creation while he still could. If it were allowed to thrive, it would pose a threat. For now, Alex needs help to carry out his vengeance, no matter the cost.

“And what promise are you bound to honor?”

“My host wishes the love and affection of Gertrude Yorkes, as well as his memories back. I have carried out the task of giving him back his memories. Now I will carry out my host’s other objective, after which I will be free to pursue my own objectives.”

Alex is a little bit annoyed by this unexpected setback. “I see. That may pose a problem because in case you didn’t notice, she is one of the people against whom I am plotting revenge.”

Calmly, Victorious responds: “I am aware of that. However, I don’t see where there is a conflict. We can both get what we want.”

Alex raises a curious brow. “Explain yourself.”

“My host’s memory banks indicate that Gertrude Yorkes is enamored with Chase Stein. Redirecting her affections away from him so that they are directed at my host will require me to break her down and reprogram her. The process through which I will achieve this objective involves much anguish and excruciating emotional pain on her part.”

“So, you’re telling me that you will shatter her and remake her however you want?”

“Yes. I believe humans call this process brainwashing.” Victorious says matter-of-factly.

Alex smiles with delight at the thought of Gert, ever eager to express her individuality, being erased and written over in such a brutal manner. The thought of imagining her as an empty husk of herself, only able to express herself as the extension of someone else’s will amuses him to no end. Still, Victorious’ solution only partially satisfies Alex. They all had to die. Alex pauses and thinks that Victorious’ plan could nevertheless be of some use to further his own plan. Putting Gert through hell in the process would just be icing on the cake.

“I suppose we could reach an agreement,” Alex says, “I will accept your plan, provided that you carry it out in a manner that is as painful to Chase as possible.”

“Very well, it seems like we have ourselves a deal. In order to assist you in carrying out your vengeance, I will need certain things.”

“Sure thing. Ask away.”

“I know that this body of mine can be modified, but my knowledge of cybernetics and human biology is currently limited to what my host knows, which is insufficient for my purposes. I need additional knowledge. It will also be to your benefit, as it will facilitate carrying out your mission.”

Alex knows full well that although this is the means by which his progeny intends to come at him, it will be beneficial to his aims in the short term. In any event, even if he wanted to try to prevent it, he knew that someway, somehow, Victorious would find a way. Alex thinks to himself: _It won’t matter when I get my hands on the Staff of One. Through me and the rage I wield, its power will be unmatchable. I will let Victorious have its fun with Gert and Chase, that is, if it can even have fun, I will take the staff and claim all their powers as my own. I will wield them to get rid of all who oppose me. Even Victorious will be helpless before me._

“No problem. I can give you access to everything within this lab as well as any source of knowledge available online. I can also give you access to the Wilder Innovators private server. There’s cutting edge technology on there that you might find useful. I also must inform you that it is imperative that my associate, Cassandra remain in the dark regarding your true nature.”

“Very well. If I am to help you, I will also need to know as much as possible about the people you seek revenge against. Although a search of my host’s memory bank indicates he knows most of the people you’re plotting against through Chase Stein and Gertrude Yorkes, he has only recently met them and therefore does not know them very well.”

“I can give you about as much background information as you want about all of them, but I don’t really know the nitty gritty of what they’re up to these days. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I was hoping that it would be where you come in. You will have to pretend to be your host to do it for me. Can you do that?”

“I can. I only need to find which subroutines of his to activate as I give him direction. If I wish it, even he won’t know that he’s acting a part I wrote for him. You want to use me to gather information?”

“Yes. I would prefer if they were to die by my hand, if possible. This is especially the case for Nico Minoru: if I’m not the one to kill her, no deal. You will help deliver her to me. It’s imperative that she be alone and for me to have the element of surprise in my favour. She is the most dangerous one of them all. Do not underestimate any of them, but especially not her. I want you to work your way inside their circle, gain their trust, feed me inside information, and I will come up with the plan to carry out my vengeance.”

“Very well. Shall we begin?”

* * *

Chase and Gert are sitting in front of her laptop, waiting for Victor to come online for their scheduled videoconference call. Like everyone else, they had been taken by surprise when they were informed of Max’s abrupt decision to change his name. They tried their best to be supportive of it despite the concern caused by the fact that it seemingly came out of nowhere. Chase, most of all, had found it difficult when he learned of it. He would have found it much easier to accept if it had been pretty much any name other than his father’s name. When he learned, Chase thought to himself: _Of all the possible names, why did it have to be Victor_? When she heard the name, Gert’s thoughts immediately went over to how Chase would react to the announcement. She looked over and saw how just the mention of the name brought back bad memories involving him and his father. She grabbed his hand under the desk to let him know she was there for him and to prevent him from going into brooding mode. He had soon come around and supported his friend, who obviously had no idea about his father and the history there.

They receive an incoming call and answer. They see Victor's face show up on the monitor.

“Hey Victor, how are you doing? We heard that you’ve been meeting up with Molly and Karolina every once in a while. Are you guys getting along,” asks Gert.

Victorious accesses his host’s memory bank. Prior to undergoing the intervention, he had met with Molly and Karolina when they went out for supply runs and had gotten along well with them. Karolina had even come by a couple of times by herself to see how he was doing. In an odd way, Karolina’s background had made her ideally suited to relate to Victor’s problem: the mind wipe spell that the member of The Coven had done on him had destroyed his sense of self, leaving him in constant doubt as to who he was. Karolina’s sheltered upbringing had had the same effect on her: she had spent all her life trying to be what her parents and the church wanted her to be. She had asked herself the question of what she wanted, but given that everything in her life up to that point had revolved around the church and its teachings, she had had great difficulty imagining what life could look like outside of it.

“Oh, they’re fantastic. Karolina really listens when people talk instead of just waiting for her turn to say something and Molly’s good mood is always infectious. How have you been?”

“Oh, you know, the usual,” answers Chase. “We’re both pretty busy with school and all. Gert got an A+ on her assignment writing about _Frankenstein_. I read it, it really made me aware of things that I hadn’t even thought of until then, like I didn’t even know who Mary Shelley’s parents were, their politics, or anything about her marriage to a famous poet and his politics.” Chase answers, looking at Gert with admiration.

“Oh, that’s great, I’d like to see the notes you took for it.”

“Sure thing. I can show you the next time we meet.”

“Speaking of, will you be coming home during spring break?”

“Yeah, of course,” answers Gert.

“We really look forward to seeing you,” adds Chase.

“Oh, cool. I was wondering when you’re flying in so I can greet you at the airport.”

Chase and Gert look at one another, unsure how to respond. They had planned on going back home using a portal. It was cheaper, faster, and didn’t have the carbon footprint that flying from one side of the country to the other had.

Given how terrible Gert is at pretending anything that she knows to be untrue, Chase is the one to answer: “Uh, listen, we’re going to be getting here pretty late and we’ll still be on east coast time. We’ll be tired and jetlagged, so I can pretty much guarantee you that we won’t be any fun to be around. How about we meet up somewhere after?”

“I suppose that would be okay. Uh, would it be possible to meet up with your friends? You know, do something special to celebrate while you’re there?”

“Sure, that sounds like a good idea. I mean, obviously, we’ll have to talk with the others first, but I don’t think that we’ll have to twist their arms to see you.”

“Great. By the way, Gert, you mentioned that you take medication for your anxiety. I’ve been looking into it for myself, and I find that I’m kind of confused by it all. I’d like to know which one you’re taking.”

“Oh, I think it’s great that you’re finally taking care of yourself. I’m taking citalopram. It’s also known as Celexa.”

“Uh-huh, uhm, good. I was wondering: are you taking a specific brand? I’ve been looking all over and I’m not sure which one I should take.”

“Uh, I’m not sure. I know I’m taking a generic version, but I never really bothered to look. No point paying extra for something that has the same efficacy. Before you do anything, you really should consult with a doctor or pharmacist first. They’d be the ones most qualified to know which medication would work best for you.”

“Oh, okay. Uh, which pharmacist do you see for your medication? I’m sorry if I’m asking a lot of questions, but this is my first time doing anything like that and if I’m going to do this, I really want to know that I can trust the other person.”

As Gert gives him the information, Victorious analyzes the situation carefully to compute the actions that will yield the desired outcome. 


	23. Apostle's Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victorious goes about his missions.

Gert and Chase walk into the main hall at the Hostel through a portal on a Friday afternoon. They’re carrying their bags for spring break, smiling at the prospect of spending the week with each other and with their friends, without the class schedule and work restrictions. Karolina, Nico, and Molly were eagerly awaiting their arrival and greet them warmly when they arrive.

Everyone is in high spirits, relieved that they all had managed to make it to spring break week without Alex having made his move against them. Nico would see Doctor Strange during the week. She would soon know the counter-spell to lift the curse, and things could finally go back to normal. Well, as normal as a witch, a girl with super strength, a human-alien hybrid, a college student with a psychic link to a dinosaur, a guy who had invented a technology while still in high school, and a hacker genius nerd living together in an abandoned mostly buried mansion could get. Although Nico hadn’t yet found the counter-spell to lift Alex’s curse, she had learned an impressive array of new spells.

As a result of it, she had made several improvements to the Hostel, at first only to ensure that the whole thing would not be at risk to collapse at any given moment, but later to make Karolina happy because she wanted at least one room with a bit of colour in it. Gert and Chase are quite surprised by the changes as they walk in.

“Whoah, you really made a lot of changes to the place,” says Chase.

“You can say that again,” adds Gert, clearly impressed.

“Well, y’know, I’ve been learning a lot of new spells, and since I needed the practice and all, I thought that I could put some of them to good use. Plus, not that I don’t trust you, Chase, but the electrical wiring in this thing probably was a fire hazard and I figured there was no point surviving Alex only to have a fire due to worn out wiring kill us.”

Chase chuckles lightly. “No offense taken. It’s nice to see everyone.”

“Same,” answers Molly.

“I’m glad to see you all too. So, anything new regarding Alex,” asks Gert as she pets Old Lace.

“Not really, no,” answers Nico.

Gert looks a little worried. Old Lace nuzzles her gently.

“It’s okay, Gert. We’re all also worried. We’re all doing the best we can,” says Karolina to avert another incident between herself and Gert.

“I know, Karolina. You know me. I worry a lot. I can manage it. I’m just asking myself lots of question trying to figure out what Alex has done with Mancha and how to deal with all the possibilities. And I know that right now, the possibilities are endless.”

“I know this is a bad sports cliché, but we need to focus on the objective. We all agree that we want to get Alex back, let’s all work together to make it happen,” says Chase.

He is so completely surprised not to be greeted with a collective eyeroll that he stops and says: “What? Did I say something?”

* * *

The gang enters _Timely Coffee_ on an early Saturday afternoon to meet up with Victor, who had gotten there early to make sure to be there to greet everyone. He is playing with his phone when they arrive. When he sees them enter, he quickly puts his phone away, gets up, and walks over to greet them.

“Hey everyone, thank you so much for coming to see me. I’m so glad you’re all here.”

He ushers everyone over to the seats that he had reserved for them, and offers to get everyone a round of whichever beverage they want. They accept his offer, and they all place their order with Victor: Molly asks for hot chocolate, Gert asks for green tea, and the rest of the gang asks for coffee. Chase offers to accompany him to go get everyone’s drinks, but Victor politely insists that everyone stay put as he plays good host. Victor leaves to place their order to the counter. While waiting for him, they discuss among themselves.

“Victor certainly seems to be doing better,” remarks Gert. She turns to Karolina and Molly and continues: “Thanks for looking out for him.”

“Anytime,” answers Molly.

“It’s my pleasure,” adds Karolina, “he’s a really nice guy.”

“See, I told you that you’d like him,” says Chase.

“Oh my god, are you going to stop with your man crush on Victor,” jokes Nico.

Chase laughs. “Shush, don’t talk like that around Gert. You know how she gets.”

Gert smiles and rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. “Chase, you’re such a dumbass.”

“See? She’s losing it already.” He turns to Gert and says with a smile: “I may be a dumbass, but I’m your dumbass.”

They continue joking around until Victor comes back holding a tray with everyone’s order. He goes around the circle, handing out everyone their drink.

“I grabbed some milk, cream, and sugar in case anyone wants them.” He turns to face Gert and Chase. “So, how was your flight into LA?”

Seeing Gert hesitating, Chase answers: “Oh, it was pretty uneventful. Nothing worth mentioning, really.”

Victor finally sits down after having handed everyone their order.

Victor addresses Gert: “So, did you bring the notes you took for that essay of yours? I’ve been dying to read them and your essay.”

“Of course,” she answers enthusiastically.

She hands him her notes and her essay. He looks them over quickly with tremendous interest. “I’ll read them and give them back to you when we see each other.”

Nico looks on quizzically. “Uh, what are you doing?”

Gert answers: “Oh, it’s just something Victor and I do. He likes to read my school stuff. He used to be a student before having his mind wiped.”

“He was a really good student,” chimes in Chase.

Gert continues: “This is all part of my not-so-secret attempt to lure him back into university life.”

“Aw, thanks, you two,” says Victor, raising his eyes from Gert’s notes. “I’d like to see more of you guys. I mean, Gert and Chase are only here for spring break, right? We really should make the most of it. What does your schedule look like for the rest of the week,” he asks, addressing the group.

“Well, uh, our schedule is pretty flexible, to be honest. Except for Nico, she’s got something on Thursday that she has to prepare for.” answers Molly.

Nico glares briefly at Molly, but rapidly thinks better of it when she notices Victor looking at her. “Yeah, I have an appointment on Thursday with my doctor. Thanks for sharing, Molly.”

“I just hope that it’s nothing too bad,” says Victor. He then turns to Gert and Chase: “I hope I’m not cutting into your schedule for the week too much, but I’ve really missed you guys.”

Victor’s cell phone sends him a notification. He quickly excuses himself to go to the washroom. He isolates himself into a cubicle and looks at the notification. It’s a text message telling him: “It’s done.”

* * *

Alex gets to the Hostel for the first time since learning of his friends’ dishonesty. Victorious had sent him a message to inform him that everyone had arrived at _Timely Coffee_ , which left him plenty of time to carry out his objectives. Victorious had them all distracted, which left the Hostel unguarded, save for Old Lace. She spots him entering and hisses at him menacingly. Fortunately for Alex, he had come prepared. He shoots her with a tranquilizer gun armed with a dart that contained a mixture of tranquilizer and mind wipe drug.

As she’s fading to sleep Alex mockingly smiles over her and bends down to say: “Don’t you worry, pretty girl, I wouldn’t hurt you. Soon you’ll be my pet.”

He walks into Gert and Chase’s bedroom and walks over to Gert’s bags. He opens Gert’s luggage and start going through it, looking for something. Finally, he hits paydirt: Gert’s medication. He quickly compares it with the packages he brought: they’re identical. Victorious really did a flawless job. He replaces Gert’s medication with the indistinguishably identical package. He takes out pills from the package he brought so that it contains de same number as the one he’s replacing it with. He then walks to the washroom, opens the medicine cabinet and sees unopened packages of Gert’s anxiolytic medication. He takes them too and replaces them with identical packages.

He then walks to Nico and Karolina’s room. He opens a drawer from Karolina’s dresser, looking for something he could take that Karolina would not notice the disappearance of. As he looks through her drawer, he finds a box full of hair ties and smiles. He takes one, places everything back in its original place. He comes by Old Lace on his way out. As he takes the tranquilizer dart out of Old Lace, he says: “Next time we see each other, you’re going to become mine. See you soon, sleeping beauty.”

As he leaves the Hostel, he writes a text message to Victorious: “It’s done.”

Alex heads back to his lab. When he arrives, he finds Cassandra there, awaiting his arrival. She walks up to him. Holding a sheathed dagger.

“You wanted me to give you something to sever the bond between Nico and the Staff of One. I wanted to inform you that I’ve completed the ritual,” she says as she hands him the dagger. It has a crimson red handle as well as a silver coloured hilt and pommel. It is sheathed in a black scabbard. He unsheathes it. On the razor sharp blade, he can read an engraving: _When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge_. Alex smiles.

“So, if I were to use this thing, is there anything special that I would need to do?”

Cassandra hesitates to answer.

“Cassandra, is something wrong?”

Her eyes tear up at the thought of what she has done. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. “I’m fine. You’d need to stab her in the heart. Other than that, not really,” she answers uncomfortably.

“Thank you, Cassandra. Excellent work, as usual.”

* * *

Gert and Chase are preparing to meet up with Victor for a picnic at the park around noon on Sunday. Chase noticed that she had seemed a little jittery since Saturday evening. The last time something like this had happened was in the early stages of when Gert had begun undergoing withdrawal symptoms from her medication, but he wasn’t sure: this may have also been due to her stressing over the whole Alex situation. She assured him that she had taken her meds when he asked. He did his best to reassure her and she was very thankful, but was beginning to grow irritated with him. Thankfully, they would go out and meet Victor: some fresh air would certainly help clear her head a little.

Seeing them arrive, Victorious detects the subtle tension between them. “Hey, you two, I’m so glad to see you,” he says jovially.

“Hey Victor, it’s good to see you too,” answers Chase.

Gert tries her best to sound convincing as she says: “Hey, it’s nice to see you.”

Victorious isn’t fooled by her attempt to sound like her normal self. “Hey, are you okay? You seem tense.”

“She’s been tense since Saturday evening,” Chase answers.

“Huh. Is there anything especially stressful going in in your lives right now that I should know about?”

Chase answers: “Not really, no. I mean we’re here on spring break week with our friends. What could be better than that?”

“Oh, okay then. If it’s nothing too serious, Gert, you look like you could use a good neck massage. That is, if everyone is cool with it.”

Gert and Chase look at one another and nod. Victorious notices that communication hasn’t yet broken down between them. He will have to wait for the pressure to build up. In the meantime, he has to become associated with positive experiences for Gert.

“Sure,” answers Gert, shrugging.

They all set their things down at a nearby table. Gert takes a seat and Victorious positions himself behind her. He begins giving her a neck rub. After a few minutes, Gert begins to feel all the tension drain out of her entirely.

“By the way,” says Victorious, “I finished reading your essay. I have it and your notes in my bag, so don’t forget to take them before leaving. I just wanted to say that the Mary Wollstonecraft section was really great.”

Gert smiles and looks back at Victorious. “Thanks, Victor, that’s really nice.”

The conversation continues amicably, as Gert seems back to being herself, much to Chase’s relief.

* * *

Chase stops by Molly’s room on Wednesday to ask her to come along for help. He is dreading having this conversation because he knows how irritable Gert is going to be in the state that she’s in. He also knows that what he has to say would irritate her in the best of circumstances, which this definitely wasn’t. Sadly, the reprieve from her symptoms that she seemed to experience after last seeing Victor on Sunday had been short lived and she went back to spiralling down a few hours later. He braces himself, knowing that he’s going to have to stay calm. He and Molly walk to Gert and Chase’s bedroom. They find Gert, gnawing at her nails sitting on the bed, looking like an anxious mess. 

Chase hems and haws. Finally, he says it: “Gert, I think we should call your parents and go over there.”

“What? No way!”

“Gert, I’ve known you for so long that I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I know something’s wrong. You haven’t been yourself since Saturday. Your mood is all over the place. The last time you were anything like this, you were off your meds. Except this time, you’re even more all over the place.”

“I’m telling you, I’m feeling fine now! I swear!”

Molly knows her sister enough to know how obvious of a lie it was and also knows that humouring Gert is invariably the best way to go about things. “Okay, but why did your meds stop working and now all of a sudden start working again? Doesn’t that seem weird,” asks Molly.

Chase adds: “Yeah, plus okay, maybe you’re fine now, but who’s to say how you’re going to be 24 hours from now? If we know something’s up, at least we can deal with it.”

Gert pauses. “I hate to admit it, but you have a point.” Her tone turns pleading as she continues: “You know I don’t want to see my mother. She messed with my head.”

Chase looks at her compassionately. “You’re right, I know, but if you think that there’s anyone better placed to look into what happened than your parents, I will drive you over to them right away.”

Gert crosses her arms and responds drily: “Fine.”

“Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind, I think that it’s important that we go ASAP.”

Gert rolls her eyes and starts heading to the car. Chase walks alongside her, knowing that deep down, Gert is reluctantly giving up the point. As they come down the stairs, Molly takes out her cell phone and calls Stacey and Dale to inform them that they want Gert checked out to make sure that she’s okay.

The car ride is unusually silent. Chase remembers the last time he drove the car to bring Gert to see her parents because of a health concern of hers, and how terrified he was of losing her. At least this time, she’s conscious. Extremely pissed off at him, but conscious.

They pull into the driveway to Gert and Molly’s former residence. Dale and Stacey are out on the driveway to greet everyone’s arrival.

Dale walks up to Chase and tells him: “Thank you so much for coming here. We’re glad you’re taking such good care of our daughter, Chase.”

Given the situation and Gert’s overall irritability, Chase feels stuck between a rock and a hard place between his conflicting desires not to irritate Gert and being polite with her parents.

“It’s okay Chase, let me do the talking because you’ll just get in trouble no matter what you say right now,” says Molly.

She turns to Dale and Stacey as she explains the emotional rollercoaster that Gert has been up to since Saturday: the wild mood swings, the irritability, the constant worry, the disturbed sleep patterns.

“We could run a blood sample test,” says Stacey.

“Fine, but I don’t want to stay here,” says Gert, “you take my blood and I’m outta here.”

“Of course,” answers Dale, before continuing: “Your mother will have to be the one to draw your blood though.”

Gert looks at everyone, supremely pissed off. “Fine,” she answers drily.

“Please follow me downstairs, honey,” says Stacey.

“Don’t call me that,” answers Gert as she follows her mother.

“I can come with you if you want,” offers Chase.

Gert’s glare lets him know in no uncertain terms to stay behind.

Stacey and Gert head to the basement by themselves. Stacey directs Gert to a chair as she takes out a blood sample kit and tells her to take off her coat. Being back in the basement with her mother brings back memories of the Dark Dimension within Gert. She gets even more tense than she already was. She regrets not having Chase there with her.

As she’s looking at Gert’s arm, preparing to draw blood, Stacey says: “I want you to know that I know that I made a lot of bad things and I’m really sorry for all of them. Believe me when I say that the last thing that I ever wanted to do was to hurt you.”

“What about all the others you hurt?”

Stacey inserts the needle in Gert’s arm, then looks up into Gert’s eyes, filled with regret.

She pauses to think over her answer, then says: “I’m sorry about them too. I wish I could say it was all Jonah's fault, but the fact of the matter is that we all went willingly along with his plans. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to mend fences. I’ve apologized. If you want me to, I’ll apologize again, as often as you want.”

Stacey looks down again and the first test tube is nearly full. She quickly replaces it with the second test tube. In the state she’s in, Gert finds the experience emotionally overwhelming. She waits for her mother to be done with drawing blood in silence. As soon as her arm is patched up, Gert grabs her coat and storms upstairs. As she walks past Chase and Molly, she says: “I want to go. Now.”

Given that they were in the middle of a conversation with Dale, they quickly excuse themselves and walk back to the car with Gert. Before departing, Chase rolls down his window and addresses Dale: "Call us when the results are in."

"Will do."


	24. #1 Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Victorious strike  
> \---  
> Nico's search for a counter-spell leads to an unexpected visit

Gert and Chase are in their bedroom on Thursday. They and Molly were supposed to meet up with Victor later that day, but given Gert’s rapidly worsening anxiety issues, Chase was going to have to cancel their scheduled meet-up. He picks up his phone and calls up Victor.

“Hey Chase, how are you doing?”

“Uh, not too good. I’m really sorry, but Gert, Molly, and I are going to have to cancel for today.”

Victorious knows all too well that it’s almost certain that this is because of the worsening anxiety symptoms that Gert must be experiencing given the cocktail of drugs that he slipped in her tea over at _Timely Coffee_ and Alex replacing her anxiety medication with potent anxiogenic drugs.

“I’m really sorry to hear that. What’s happening?”

“Oh, it’s just that Gert’s not feeling too good right now. I’m afraid that we’re going to have to take a rain check.”

In order to reprogram Gert, Victorious knows that he’ll need to maximize the amount of contact that he has with her and minimize other sources of interaction. Still, he must do so in a way that will not arouse suspicion. He knows the lengths to which Chase would go to make Gert happy. He determines that his best chance to achieve his goal is to present himself as an additional source of support for Gert. This way, he might even get Chase on board with his plan long enough to carry it out under his nose without him noticing until it’s too late.

“Chase, you and Gert are my best friends. If something’s wrong, I want to know about it.”

Chase hesitates to give an answer. He already feels bad about all the things that he is keeping from Victor. Keeping him in the dark regarding Gert’s health seems like it’s crossing a boundary.

Gert asks him to put his phone in speaker mode so she can take part in the conversation. Once he does, she addresses Victor: “Hi Victor, I’m really sorry, but my anxiety is just too much for me to do anything today.”

Victorious carefully monitors her words and tone of voice. His analysis reveals that she is likely experiencing sensory overload, a known symptom of anxiety disorder. This was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it meant that any sensory input, Chase included, would be bound to become an irritant. On the other hand, it also meant that he had to tread carefully lest she cut herself completely from all contact in order to minimize stimulation, himself included, which would hinder his plan.

“Oh, that’s a shame. Just so you know, we don’t really need to do anything. Really, to me, whatever we end up doing is always really an excuse to meet up and chat with you.”

Had he said that during any other of the other conversations they had had prior to him undergoing the procedure, it would have been 100% true. In the present situation though, it was purely manipulative.

“Thanks, Victor, I appreciate that, but right now, I’m not even in any shape to step out.”

“Well, if the issue is that you can’t go anywhere, I’ll be happy to come over to support my friend in her time of need.”

“I don’t know if it’s such a good idea,” says Chase.

“I’m going to have to insist. I mean, what are friends for if not to be there for each other in times of need? We are friends, aren’t we?”

“Yes, of course,” answers Chase.

“Then it’s only right for you to let me be there for you two the way you’ve been there for me.”

* * *

Nico enters through the portal to finally meet with Doctor Strange after months of waiting. Before she even gets the chance to say anything, he rolls his eyes at the sight of her, not even trying to conceal his disappointment with her presence. “Oh, it’s you again.”

“ _You_ opened the portal, who else did you expect to show up?”

“I opened the portal out of a sense of obligation because I had pencilled you into my schedule. I had dared hope that you would flake out and not show up. I probably would have preferred if your friend with the pedestrian superpowers had walked through the portal and asked to do a spontaneous interview for a spot on the Avengers. Still, I suppose it’s unfair of me to have put any hope in anything involving you.”

“My mother called you months ago about this and you never got back to us.”

“Ms. Minoru, do you know how often I get messages like hers? Several times a day, every single day. It gets tiring.”

Nico reminds herself of her purpose for being there and opts to completely disregard his clear unhappiness to see her: “Listen, I really don’t have time for this. I have a situation that I can’t handle by myself at the moment and I need your help.”

Doctor Strange takes a long, deep breath before answering sarcastically: “How unusual. What is it?”

Nico opens the 18th volume of _Curses and Maledictions: Differential Diagnoses, Symptomologies, and Trajectories_ , and shows Doctor Strange the _Vendetta Curse_ entry.

“I found the curse Alex has. This is it.”

Doctor Strange reads the entry. He is clearly displeased by what he reads. He takes a sarcastic tone of voice as he says: “Oh, isn’t this wonderful? Let me guess. It’s reached the active stage.”

“Yeah, I need your help.”

Doctor Strange sighs and speaks in an exasperated tone: “Ms. Minoru, the way you continually come to me with these problems of yours, it’s as if someone ill-intentioned were writing your life to torment me by maximizing the amount of inconvenience you pose to me.”

Nico barely manages to contain her anger as she answers: “Well, I’m very sorry that you’re personally inconvenienced by my friend having a _Vendetta_ _Curse_ and the danger it represents. Imagine how inconvenienced I and my friends are. Can you help us or not?”

“Are you trying to insult me?”

Nico is perplexed by Doctor Strange’s reaction. “Uh, no?”

“Of course, I can help you. I _am_ the Sorcerer Supreme. Ms. Minoru, you are quite hopeless. Wording is extremely important in magic. Some phrases are left deliberately vague in order to be interpreted differently based on the needs of the user. What does the entry end with?”

Reciting from memory, Nico says: “Should the curse reach the active stage, the evidence bears out what was first recorded in ancient texts regarding the curse: by blood was it created, and in blood it shall end.”

“There you have it. It’s not a complicated curse. It simply requires a willing human blood sacrifice.”

Hearing those words, Nico’s stomach drops. She gives Doctor Strange a dazed look.

“Well don’t look at _me_ , Ms. Minoru, I’m not willing to die for your friends. They’re _your_ friends. I don’t even know them.”

A book flies off the shelf and into Nico’s hands.

“What you seek is on page 340. Is there anything else, Ms. Minoru?”

As Nico opens the book to the page, she asks Doctor Strange: “Yeah, we tried to do a tracing spell on Alex. He has help. A witch who used to be a member of Morgan’s coven is allied with him. We can’t track him down. She is far better trained than I have been.”

She notices how profoundly insulted Doctor Strange looks at that last remark. She corrects herself: “I mean, she has far more training than I do.”

“In that case, you must let him come to you.”

“But we have no idea where he’ll be coming from.”

“It doesn’t matter. Alex’s destination is still you. It was the third and final command of your friend’s note. The rest is details. Prepare for that. Is there anything else, Ms. Minoru?”

“Um, There’s also another thing. This may seem a bit weird, but do you know Leslie Dean?”

“Her? I’ve never met her, but I know of her. She runs the Church of Gibborim with those godawful billboards everywhere. Journey into brightness,” he says derisively, before continuing: “To be honest, I know far more about her father, David Ellerh.”

Nico is surprised. Doctor Strange explains: “It’s a secret to those outside of the magic wielding community, but in magical circles, David Ellerh is a legend. The most gifted student in centuries in the art of divination. Truly an exceptional talent. He grew obsessed with whether his prophecies simply revealed a predetermined fate, or if he could create or shape events with his prophecies. His search led him to try to look further and further into the future. To do that, he started consuming LSD quite heavily. He then used his talents to attract followers and woo women, thereby creating a religious sect which eventually morphed into the Church of Gibborim, which his daughter, Leslie Dean, currently runs.”

“Uh, she told me that what I was going through was foretold in her father’s journal.”

“I would say that any prophecy of David Ellerh’s towards you could be of tremendous significance to your case. However, you would be well advised to know that prophecies are often left deliberately vague in order to ensure that they occur.”

Nico looks on quizzically.

Doctor Strange rolls his eyes and explains: “If I were to tell you the very precise prophecy that you will have an accident while skateboarding that results in your breaking your leg tomorrow, you could easily prevent it by simply not going skateboarding, making the prophecy null and void. Do you want me to draw it with crayons for you?”

Completely unperturbed, Nico answers: “Oh, okay. I suppose that makes sense. Sorry, I haven’t read anything on divination yet.”

Doctor Strange walks away, shaking his head and muttering to himself.

* * *

Alex is at his place when he receives a text message from Victorious: “@ the Hostel. Nico’s out. Ready to run interference.”

He walks over to Cassandra, whom he had invited over for the occasion, holding the hair tie he had taken from Karolina’s drawer.

“Hey, Cassandra, could you do me a favour?”

* * *

Karolina is downstairs studying at the dining room table for her _Sensation and Perception_ class while waiting for Nico to return from her meet-up with Doctor Strange. She hears a sound with which she’s grown familiar: it’s a portal opening in the main hall. She smiles, looking forward to hearing about how Nico’s visit with Doctor Strange went and hearing Nico do impressions of him.

With a bit of luck, it might help Gert snap out of the anxious thoughts she had been having since coming back. She was still cooped up in her bedroom as she had been since Sunday evening with the exception of that trip they took to her parents’. Molly and Chase had spent the day with her, trying their best to comfort her, but from Gert’s raised voice and irritated tone she could hear from downstairs, Karolina could tell that their efforts were insufficient. Mind you, hearing how irritable Gert was and how it caused her to fly off the handle over trivial matters, part of her wanted to head upstairs and put Gert in her place even though she knew it would only make things worse. Karolina had been surprised to see Victor show up at the Hostel earlier that day and was about to turn him away when Chase came down to take him upstairs to see Gert. He apologized to Karolina, but justified the decision to invite him over by saying that Victor’s presence soothed Gert. Although she had her doubts, Karolina relented because she could see by the clear signs of exhaustion that Chase was showing that he was himself just barely keeping it together trying to be there for his girlfriend and not let his own worries feed into Gert’s worries. Although she knew that Nico would hate it, Karolina didn’t have the heart to let her friends suffer. She decided to let it slide because it might help them. She knew very well that she would be willing to break the rules for Nico, and for that reason, empathized deeply with Chase and Molly’s situation.

Karolina gets up, still reading her book and heads to the main hall to greet Nico and tell her about Victor’s presence. When she looks up, she is surprised to see Alex and Cassandra walking out of the open portal. Upon seeing this, Karolina’s gaze immediately goes from relaxed and pleasant to focused and ready for action. An eerie glow emanates menacingly from her palms. Cassandra stops dead in her tracks when she sees how Karolina is looking at them. Even Alex is intimidated by Karolina’s fierce gaze, taken by surprise because he had never seen her like that. Several tense seconds that feel like an eternity elapse of them looking at one another in silence, nobody daring to make a move.

All of a sudden, all hell breaks loose. Alex is the first to break the standoff, reaching to his holster for the tranquilizer gun. Karolina drops her book and before it hits the floor, she uses a blast of light to knock the gun out of Alex’s hand before he gets the chance to point it as her and fire. Karolina’s attention turns to Cassandra, who is casting a telekinetic wave spell. Karolina fires a light blast at Cassandra. Karolina’s light blast and Cassandra’s spell travel through each other, not hindering one another. Both Karolina and Cassandra are knocked back into the wall behind each of them and fall to the floor. Alex looks at the two of them. Both Karolina and Cassandra are out of commission. He picks up his tranquilizer gun and holsters it, grabs Karolina by the wrists and drags her along with him into the portal. It closes just as Karolina’s feet get past the threshold.

* * *

Chase, Molly, and Victorious are upstairs in Gert and Chase’s bedroom trying their best to provide Gert with comfort and care. Everyone is seated on the bed with Gert, who begins feeling claustrophobic with everyone around her. Suddenly, they hear a sound coming from the main hall. Gert, Chase, and Molly know from experience what it is: it’s the sound of a portal opening.

“What’s that sound,” Victorious asks, getting up from the bed and heading towards the door.

They all know they have to stop him from opening the door and investigating. If he finds out, they’ll have to explain everything, and they don’t want to drag him into the whole mess with Alex and his curse. Chase and Molly rush to get between him and the door.

“It’s uh, a…” says Chase, looking for a plausible answer. He hesitates and continues “electrical issue” simultaneously as Molly answers “plumbing issue.”

Victorious gives them an inquisitive look.

Chase continues: “It’s both an electrical and a plumbing issue. It’s a recurrent problem in this place.”

Molly adds: “Yeah, it’ll clear itself like it always does, but believe me, you don’t want to be down there in the meantime.”

“Uh, okay,” answers Victorious skeptically.

He turns back and walks to the bed as Chase and Molly breathe a sigh of relief. They too head back to the bed. Thankfully, everything is silent again. Then they hear the sound of Karolina using her powers to emit light blasts, followed by two loud thuds in close succession. Those crashes are enough to make the walls in Chase and Gert’s room vibrate. Gert, who was already just barely holding on by a thread, curls up in a ball and turns catatonic.

“Okay,” says Chase, “Molly, Victor, stay with Gert and keep her safe. I’m going to have a look at what’s happening.”

“No way, man,” says Victorious, “I’m going with you.”

“Fine,” says Chase, not wanting to waste time debating the issue.

He heads out and sees Alex dragging Karolina into a portal. He starts making a run to stop him, but gets tackled down by Victorious.

He pushes Victor off him and gets back up and starts running to the stairs. It’s too late, the portal closes. Chase turns to Victorious. “What the hell, man. Why did you stop me?”

“I thought I saw a gun.”

Chase inhales deeply and exhales slowly to calm his anger with Victor over what happened.

Victorious asks: “Was that a portal of some kind?”

“Yes, now please go back with Gert. Let her know I’m fine,” he says as he looks over to Cassandra.

Victorious heads back to Gert and Chase’s bedroom.

“Chase says he’s fine. What was that portal I saw?”

“Oh, Nico can open portals to travel between places,” answers Molly.

“Oh, cool, so she can just go anywhere.”

“Sort of. She needs a clear image of wherever her destination is. She can’t astral project really well at the moment to see a place without being physically there, but if she has a photo of the place, she can open a portal there.”

“Oh. That’s good to know.”

* * *

Nico continues reading up on the counter-spell to the Vendetta curse, alone in Doctor Strange’s library. It is an extremely difficult spell to cast because it demands that the person being sacrificed have unwavering will and be at peace with dying throughout the spell, accepting their fate until the point of death without any form of mind control or suggestion spells. If the sacrifice’s resolve falters or if fear takes hold of them at any point, the spell will fail, and the curse will endure. As Nico begins to despair over her situation, for guidance, she asks herself what Karolina would do. _One thing’s for sure_ , Nico thinks to herself, _Karolina wouldn’t be standing around in Doctor Strange’s library moping around feeling sorry for herself_.

She receives three text messages in rapid succession.

The first is from Chase, informing her that Alex took Karolina.

The second is from an unknown number: “It’s Alex. I got your girl. Come alone if you ever want to see her again.”

Attached with the text message is the picture of a property.

The third is from Leslie Dean: “I know Alex has my daughter.”

* * *

A portal opens in front of the Church of Gibborim’s head office. Nico walks through it and heads straight inside without hesitation. Just as she shows up to the reception desk, about to demand a face-to-face meeting with Leslie Dean, to Nico’s surprise, she shows up at the desk at exactly the same time to greet her.

“Hi Nico. I’ve been expecting you.”

“You knew this was going to happen.”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Because you weren’t ready then. Now, you’re finally ready.”

Nico is genuinely puzzled. She asks: “Ready for what?”

“Ready to read my father’s journal. It has a section just for you. Please, follow me,” she says as she heads towards her office.

Nico follows suit and enters. Leslie closes the door behind them. Nico sees it on the desk: Leslie had already taken out her father’s journal in preparation for this moment.

“I want you to know that the next section is for you and you alone. I’ve already read it although I think its meaning is deliberately obscured from me, which means that my father wanted to address you personally. I do not need nor wish to know more. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes.”

Leslie carefully opens her father’s journal at the page she kept bookmarked. The pages look worn and Nico dares not touch them for fear of damaging them in Leslie’s presence. She reads the handwritten section that Leslie points her to:

> _Darkness will enter the Church, looking for answers, having learned a secret._
> 
> _Need shall motivate her presence. Her great love, a daughter of the light will be in peril by an otherworldly evil wearing the mask of a friend._
> 
> _Through memories of a vanished future, the darkness will realize what she must do and accept the sacrifice._
> 
> _She will finally find peace, though burdened with the knowledge that she will cause her great love immense suffering._

Nico ponders the passage in silence for several minutes. Suddenly, she hugs Leslie, who is taken by surprise by the unexpected gesture of affection. “Thank you, Mrs. Dean.”

Nico takes out her phone, looking for a photo. “I have to go.”

She opens a portal and leaves.


	25. Take It in Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico confronts Alex

Cassandra comes to her senses lying on a couch in the main hall at the Hostel. As she begins moving to sit up, she hears Molly’s voice.

“I don’t want to fight you. It would be nice if you didn’t cast a spell. Nico just renovated this place and already there’s dents in the walls from fighting. I just want to talk. Are you cool with that?”

Cassandra nods unassuredly at this unexpected turn of events. The girl who would have every reason to wish harm upon her for her participation in Morgan’s schemes is approaching her talking peace.

Molly continues: “I don’t know why you’re working with Alex, but I have to explain what’s going on from our side.”

Cassandra looks befuddled. “Isn’t there anyone with more seniority than you to do this?”

“Well, Nico’s out to see Doctor Strange. Karolina was taken by Alex. Gert is indisposed. Chase is by her bedside at the moment, so I guess the responsibility falls upon me. Okay, so you know Nico, right?”

“Yes, Morgan constantly talked about her and the staff she carries.”

“The staff is a cursed weapon. It feeds off the negative emotions of the wielder. Nico is trying to stop using it because it attracts danger to the wielder and the ones they care about in order to get the wielder to feel these emotions so that the wielder has to channel these emotions into the spell they use to fend off dangers. As the wielder casts these spells, the staff grows more powerful, attracting greater dangers. Nico is trying to wean herself off the staff to protect everyone, but given how she’d been using the staff all this time and her tendency to lean towards despair ever since her sister’s death, let’s just say that the staff had been at an all-you-can-eat buffet for the last couple of years.”

Cassandra understands why Morgan wanted to have her as a backup in case Nico faltered: it was never an honour to be bestowed upon her, but rather Morgan’s plan was to use her up and move onto the next person she could manipulate into serving up for the Staff of One. And she would have willingly gone along with it, to her own doom.

Molly continues: “Morgan manipulated Nico to escape from the Dark Dimension, where she had been imprisoned until then. Nico was forced into a situation where she had to cast a _Tenebrae_ spell. Morgan ended up here, we ended up in the Dark Dimension. We managed to escape, but Alex got stuck there. While Morgan was planning to use me to bring the Dark Dimension into this world, my friends went back a second time to get him. Unbeknownst to us at the time, at some point during his time in captivity, Alex fell under a curse. We could tell that something was off about him when he got back, but we didn’t know what it was. We eventually learned that Alex had fallen under a _Vendetta_ Curse.”

Cassandra’s stomach drops at hearing the news. She knew of the curse and its fearsome reputation. She had dared hope it had gone extinct: it hadn’t manifested itself in this realm in centuries.

Molly hands Cassandra a piece of paper. Cassandra recognizes Alex’s handwriting. On it, she sees a short list:

  1. Infiltrate Wilder Innovators
  2. Hide Mancha
  3. Kill Nico



“This is what Alex has been up to for the past several months. We don’t know much more. But I think you might.”

Cassandra finally accepts that Alex had been cynically manipulating her all this time. While she would like to blame Alex and take no responsibility for her actions, she knows better. She thinks of the nefarious consequences that her actions while she was associated with Alex could have, and she decides to act to prevent the disaster that she helped engineer. Her thoughts turn to her most recent actions, and the urgency of the situation becomes obvious to her. “Yes. We have to move immediately. As we speak, your friend Nico is about to walk into a trap. I know where it’s going to happen. Bring your friends and come with me. We’ll stop Alex. Let me open a portal.”

“Easy there, but right before we found you, you were team Alex. I’m not sure how much I can trust you. You could open a portal to nowhere and just leave us there. We’re going by car.”

“Fine. Are you going to drive?”

“Let me ask Chase.”

Molly heads upstairs. Gert is seated on the bed with Chase to her left and Victor to her right. As much as she hates having to interrupt, this is an emergency.

“Chase, Nico needs our help now. This can’t wait, we have to go.”

“But what about Gert? Look at how she is, she can’t go anywhere.”

“Chase, I need you to drive me there. Bring your gloves.”

By the tone in Molly's voice, Chase immediately understands that this is a life-or-death situation.

Victorious senses an opportunity. “It’s okay, Chase,” he says, “I’ll stay here with Gert while you go.”

Chase and Molly look over at Gert. Although she clearly is loth to let Chase go and barely able to speak, she manages to says almost inaudibly: “Go. Come back safely.”

* * *

Karolina awakens alone in a basement, bound to a chair. She tries lighting up, but is unable to. She hears Alex’s voice: “You can try as much as you want, but it won’t help you. These bindings are infused with the same material as that inhibitor bracelet you used to wear.”

“Alex? Please snap out of it, you’re under a curse.”

“Under a curse? The way I see it, the only thing it did was reveal how rotten all of you are. I know how you tried to protect those responsible for my mother’s death from me.”

“We were trying to protect you from yourself. Do you know how we all worried about you? We’re still looking out for you, don’t you see?”

“You know, Karolina, I don’t know which is worse, the possibility that you’re faking or that you seriously still think we’re friends after everything you did.”

He menacingly comes closer to Karolina, holding the dagger. He unsheathes it and shows the blade to Karolina.

“Don’t worry, that blade’s not for you. Three things are going to happen here today. The first is that I’m going to plunge that blade into that girlfriend of yours’ heart. The second is that I will take possession of the Staff of One. You see that inscription on the blade? This dagger is custom made to sever the link between Nico and the staff and bind it to whoever wields the blade that plunged it into her heart.”

Karoline interrupts him: “If you do that, you’ll damn yourself. You know what the staff does!”

Unfazed, Alex responds: “For revenge, it’s worth it. The third thing that’s going to happen here today is that I’m going to make you watch as I do it. Don’t you worry, I also have plans for you. I’m going to run experiments on you and figure out how you shine so bright. When I find out, I’ll claim your power for myself. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be glad when I finally end your life. Until then, you’ll have to live with the memory of what I’m about to do to Nico. The only reason I’m even talking to you right now is that I want you to know what’s going to happen and I want you to remember this conversation as you watch it all happen helplessly.”

He watches a security monitor and sees a portal open outside in front of the house. “Well, well, well, look at who’s coming. I hope you don’t mind if I don’t devote the proper attention to you, but I have to welcome the guest of honour. Don’t you worry, I’ll be back soon enough to give you as much attention as you deserve.”

Karolina watches on with fear for Nico as she sees her enter the residence through the front door.

“We’re downstairs, Nico,” Alex says over the intercom.

“Nico! Don’t come here,” Karolina screams.

Nico wanders through the residence until she finds the door to the stairway leading to the basement. It’s complete and utter darkness. She tries to turn on the light, but Alex had disabled the switch prior to her arrival. She heads into the darkness, slowly and carefully feeling her way down the stairs. Once there, the only thing she can see is an utterly terrified Karolina, bound to a chair and gagged, lit by a flashlight placed to make her the only visible thing in the darkness. 

Nico tells her: “Don’t worry, it’s all going to be okay, I promise.”

Nico begins walking towards Karolina. As she steps into the area lit by the flashlight, Alex emerges out of the darkness where he had been waiting in ambush. He plunges the blade into Nico’s chest. Blood flows out and sullies his hands and sleeves. Nico drops to the ground, trying her best to give Karolina a reassuring look. She bleeds out as Karolina looks on, inconsolable at what she saw happen in front of her.

* * *

Chase, Cassandra, and Molly pull up in front of Alex’s hideout. It’s the most generic art deco residence in a neighbourhood full of similar houses picked specifically not to attract attention. The front door is open. They slowly walk into the place. They find the door to the basement opened. Chase tries the light switch. The light doesn’t turn on.

He whispers to Molly: “Alex must be down there. I’d packed a couple of flashlights for a hike through the woods with Gert I’d hoped we’d get to do this week. Well, I guess it wasn’t all for nothing. Let me go get them.”

He leaves, comes back and hands Molly a flashlight. They turn them on and head downstairs.

They find Alex, standing over Nico’s body, beside himself with anger, wondering why the Staff of One didn’t emerge as it should have. His anger focuses on Cassandra whom he blames for giving him a faulty blade.

A portal opens. Nico and Tina Minoru come out of it. Tina casts a spell and all the lights come on. 

Nico addresses Alex: “Hey asshole, this is going to hurt. Sorry.”

Nico’s blood on Alex’s hands and clothes and in the puddle on the floor begins shining a bright pink hue. The puddle starts moving towards Alex, as if it were magnetically attracted to him. He grows alarmed as it seems to crawl all over him. It seeps its way into him through his skin. Suddenly, something inside him stirs. At first, it’s only a slight, barely perceptible sensation gradually intensifying to an overpowering feeling of guilt. Alex is brutally reminded of all his actions: every act of betrayal he committed and was planning to commit is brought to his attention one by one, everything he did with the intent to hurt others, every person he hurt along the way. The process monopolizes his attention: even if he wished to distract himself with something else, he wouldn’t be able to think of anything else.

As this is going on, Alex falls to the floor, writhing around in excruciating physical pain, as something that had taken root inside of him is being torn from within him and driven out. Soon after, the skin all over his body itches with increasing intensity. The itching sensation gradually transforms into a burning sensation, although as he looks at his hands, he sees that he is not burning. He notices something resembling smoke come out through his skin. The pain is so intense that he knows that he will soon faint. He manages to remain conscious just long enough to see the last of the smoke coming out of his body being destroyed by a shining light.

* * *

Victorious is with Gert, trying his best to calm her down, with no success. She is worried sick about her friends, especially Molly and Chase. She hates it when she gets like this: no amount of reassurance or rationality will manage to get through because it’s drowned out by the endless possibilities for catastrophic outcomes that her brain is cycling through one by one, constantly finding ways to find worse ways things could turn out. As she feels trapped within herself worried about the dangers to her friends, she remains oblivious to the danger that Victorious represents.

“Gert,” he says, “I’m sure it will all be fine.”

“You don’t know that,” snaps back Gert, irritated by the cheerful optimism when she knew perfectly well the danger her friends were in and how she was unable to help them.

Victorious knows full will that contradicting Gert cannot play out in his favour, so he opts to adopt a conciliatory tone: “You’re right, I don’t. What I do know is that worrying yourself sick about them isn’t going to help anyone.”

“No shit, Sherlock. You think I don’t know that? That’s what makes anxiety disorder anxiety disorder. If I could think about something else, believe me, I would. It's not like a TV station where if I don't like the programming, I can just change the channel, you know. It's more like fucking _Clockwork Orange_ where my eyes are pried open so I'm forced to look even if I don't want to.”

Gert knows she's being unreasonable at this point, but is past caring.

Victorious dispassionately assesses the situation. He knows that he has to thread the needle given how everything has become an irritant to Gert. He surmises that he will have to calm her down and become associated with a soothing presence so she will gravitate to him naturally as Chase becomes associated with worsening anxiety symptoms.

“I’m sorry, Gert. I really don’t know what to do. Uhm, maybe I can give you a massage? It seemed to do the trick the other day.”

“Sure, why not,” she says dismissively, hoping it gets him to stay quiet.

Victor sits behind Gert and begins giving her a massage, focusing on the back of her neck and shoulders. Within minutes, she begins feeling relaxed and her anxiety symptoms completely fade away. She is freed from her own head and takes in her surroundings. She immediately knows that something’s not right. There’s no reason she should feel this relaxed given the current situation. Not only was she in the middle of a panic attack a few minutes ago, but Chase and Molly hurried off who knows where due to something that was clearly an emergency.

Victorious notices Gert tensing up again after she had become relaxed. Not quite knowing the reason for this, as he continues massaging her, he asks in a soothing voice: “Is something wrong? You seem to be tensing up again.”

Gert wonders to herself why she’s feeling so calm at such a time, especially given how bad her anxiety had been just a few minutes ago. Suddenly, she has an epiphany. She doesn’t know all the particulars, but Victor’s involvement with Alex’s plan becomes crystal clear to Gert. Alex must have selected him to turn into a cyborg. Who better to infiltrate the group than someone they already were acquainted with? And there he is, seated behind her, hands on the nape of her neck, pretending to be her friend. She spontaneously turns around and recoils from him. She immediately regrets her brash reaction, but playing along with something she knew was untrue never was her strong suit.

Seeing his cover blown, Victorious drops the façade. “I suppose that I should congratulate you for figuring it out. If it’s any consolation to you, I can see why my host was so smitten with you. Please understand that none of this is personal.”

Victorious closes in, places his hand over Gert’s mouth. She smells an odd chemical odour coming from Victorious’ palm. Soon, she finds herself feeling dizzy and going limp, before finally passing out. Victorious falls back to the contingency plan that he had prepared in case he would be found out in such a manner.

* * *

Nico runs over to Karolina and frees her from her binds. Karolina is still profoundly shaken up by everything she has seen play out before her eyes. The horror of seeing Nico die before her eyes still haunts her. Nico touches her wrist, trying as best as she can to be reassuring. Karolina recoils, the sight of Nico eliciting the memory of seeing her die.

“It’s okay,” says Nico as reassuringly as possible, “I promise.”

Karolina is still too traumatized with the entire event she just witnessed to calm down. Chase and Molly walk up to Karolina. Chase addresses Nico: “I think that it’s best if Karolina comes with us for now.”

Heartbroken over how her presence is making Karolina upset, Nico nods.

Molly addresses Nico: “I’m sure there’s an explanation. I expect to hear it.”

Nico looks over at Cassandra: “What’s she doing here?”

“She’s the one who led us here,” Chase responds. “We found her knocked out back at the Hostel. When she came to, she’s the one who insisted that we come here because you were walking into a trap.”

“I’m really sorry about everything,” says Cassandra.

“Fine,” answers Nico in a neutral tone, “you stay here with us and answer our questions.” She turns her attention to Chase and Molly and addresses them: “You two take Karolina out of here and back to the Hostel. We need to let Alex sleep this one off. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. We’ll take him back when he wakes up. I promise I’ll explain everything once we get back.”

Chase and Molly each walk up to Karolina and gently take her by the forearms to guide her to the car. Fortunately, although she is clearly still shaken up, she is responsive to Chase and Molly’s guidance.

After Chase, Molly, and Karolina's departure, Nico and Tina turn their attention to Cassandra. “Explain yourself,” says Tina.

“I didn’t know Alex, was cursed, I promise.”

“Fine,” answers Nico, “we believe you. We need you to tell us about Mancha.”

“It was a project I worked on along with Alex back at Wilder Innovators to develop a technology. It was pretty much innocuous. I had a system design for the treatment of brain injuries that took over for the parts of the brain that no longer functioned properly. I swear, it was nothing bad.”

“Who came up with the idea?”

“I did, sort of. I mean, the flash of inspiration just came to me, fully formed from nothing one evening after Morgan’s defeat back when her enchantment still had a hold on me. I was reaching out one evening, trying to get in touch with her when something came over me.”

Tina and Nico exchange a glance, both knowing that this must somehow be the work of the Staff of One.

“Did you try it out on anyone?”

“Yes, on one person.”

“Can you tell us who it is?”

As hard as she tries, Cassandra is unable to remember. She had never seen his face during the visit, and she had been so focused on the minutia of all the technical details she had to attend to the day she and Alex performed the intervention on Victor that she had barely registered his name when Alex introduced him. She would have had a hard time remembering his name five minutes after hearing it, never mind so long after it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays everyone.


	26. Wicked games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Runaways deal with the fallout from Nico's confrontation with Alex.
> 
> The team prepares to rescue Gert from Victorious

The car ride back to the Hostel seems interminable. Chase and Molly try their best to provide comfort to Karolina, attempting to balance being there for their friend with giving her the space she needs. However, given that Karolina is currently in a brooding mood, they know from experience with Gert that it’s best not to let her slip. They make sure to engage Karolina in conversation in as unpushy a manner as they can. She tries her best to engage back, because every second she doesn’t, the memory of watching helplessly as Nico get killed in front of her plays back endlessly through her mind.

Chase, Molly and Karolina finally arrive back to the Hostel. Molly accompanies Karolina to her and Nico’s room as Chase goes to check up on Gert. He thought that it was especially important given how angry she had been with him ever since he had taken her to see her parents and the guilt that he felt over leaving her side when she needed him most. He enters their room and finds it empty. Instead of finding Gert, he finds a letter written in her handwriting left for him on his pillow. He picks it up and reads it:

> _Hi Chase,_
> 
> _I don’t really know how to tell you this, but I think we both know that our relationship isn’t working for either of us. I know that we tried, but we’re completely wrong for each other in so many ways. You’re simply not there for me in the way I need someone to be. It shouldn’t be this difficult and there’s no shame in admitting that. It wouldn’t be fair of me to keep leading you on like this any longer. I suppose I should be the one to tell you, so you don’t learn about it from someone else, but Victor and I are in love. It’s no knock on you, but I hope that you understand that he’s much more my type. I trust that you can respect my decision and that we can stay friends. I know that, in due time, you’ll come to see that it’s for the best and that you’ll find someone else better suited for you._
> 
> _Your friend,_
> 
> _Gert_

When first reading the letter, Chase feels like he got sucker punched in the gut. He re-reads it several times, hoping to find something that he missed or that he misread something that would completely change the meaning of the letter, but to no avail. He sinks into profound despair as he realizes that no amount of re-reading will change the meaning of the words on the page. He sits on the bed and puts his head between his hands. He starts crying silently. _She loved me, didn’t she?_ All the insecurities that he had managed to put away about not feeling good enough for Gert come back all at once, stronger than ever, as if the pause had allowed them the rest that they needed to assail him with unprecedented force. _No, I must have been fooling myself. That’s why she never told me she loved me. It must also be why she seemed to get better when Victor was around and why she was growing so irritable around me. I’m such a fucking idiot._

The entire future with Gert that Chase had envisioned crumbles to dust in his hands as he watches helplessly, his every action only making it crumble faster as it sifts through his fingers.

* * *

Alex wakes up and sees Nico and Tina Minoru looking down on him, along with Cassandra.

Nico addresses Alex: “I want you to know that I know that you’re feeling a tremendous amount of guilt at the present moment. That’s the effect of the counter spell we used to lift the curse on you. I want to tell you that it wasn’t all your fault. There were extenuating circumstances.”

As Alex barely has the energy to slowly sit up, she can’t help but say, as gently as possible: “It would be a real shame if we went through all of this and we didn’t get our friend back.”

Alex feels too ashamed about everything he’s done to respond or even look in anyone’s direction.

Nico continues: “Alex, we need you to talk about Mancha.”

The mention of Mancha serves as a stark reminder of the danger he had unleashed while under the influence of the spell. The guilt that had up until then prevented him from saying anything suddenly compels him to speak.

“Nico, we have to get back to the Hostel as soon as possible.”

He tries to get up, but quickly finds that his legs are still too wobbly for him to stand.

“You’ll have to help me up. Gert is in danger. We have to move now. Victorious is with her.”

As she and her mother help Alex up, Nico asks: “Who’s Victorious?”

“You guys knew him as Max, and then Victor. He’s a cyborg I helped create through project Mancha.”

“We know that you created a cyborg. Chase figured it out, but we didn’t know much else beyond that. Can you tell us more,” Nico asks as she takes out her cell phone to look for a picture of the Hostel.

“The curse that I had made a copy of itself. I installed it on Victor. It’s somehow different from the curse I had though. Something in the digitization process altered it, so I don’t think that what you did to free me would work on it.”

Nico opens a portal and Alex cannot help but be impressed. As they walk through, he continues: “It can learn and retain information far better than any human could ever hope to do. It’s expert at analyzing situations and coming up with the best solution to attain its objective. It has plans within plans. It’s also modified the host’s body, but I have no idea of the full extent of the changes it made.”

Alex looks at Cassandra. “I’m sorry I took your dream and turned it into a nightmare.”

As they arrive, Tina and Nico set Alex down on a couch. Cassandra stays behind with Alex as Nico starts looking around for Gert. Tina heads for Nico and Karolina’s room, where she finds Molly seated on the bed with Karolina.

“Where’s Gert,” asks Tina.

“Uh, last I saw her, she was upstairs in her room,” answers Molly. “Let me go check.”

Molly leaves and Tina stays behind with Karolina. She points to the spot next to Karolina and asks: “Mind if I sit?”

Karolina shakes her head and answers: “Go ahead.”

Tina sits next to Karolina and asks: “How you are you doing?”

“Oh, you know, as well as I can be doing right now, I suppose,” responds Karolina, fighting back tears.

Tina starts rubbing Karolina’s back to comfort her. “I want you to know that I understand how you feel. I lost my husband and a daughter. It’s a terrible feeling nobody should have to bear, but life is often unfair, sadly,” Tina says in a tone and a facial expression that show Karolina both Tina’s restraint and the depth of her emotion.

Karolina has to agree: “Yes, it is terrible. My worst nightmare, actually.”

Tina continues: “I want you to know that I am speaking with you both as a mother who loves her daughter, but also as someone who thinks of herself as a sort-of mother-in-law to you, if that’s not trespassing boundaries.”

“No. Yes. I don’t know. It’s just, what happened, it’s so upsetting.”

Tina guides Karolina’s head to her shoulder and wraps her arm around Karolina. “I know, but believe me when I say that there was no other way. You should also know that it was difficult for Nico too. The choice was this or being forced into a kill or be killed situation with Alex. We didn’t have a chance to tell you because you were already captive by the time we knew. The only spell to break such a curse is a _Catharsis_ spell. Only through the means through which the curse was created could it be broken. Blood for blood. The counter-spell demanded a willing sacrifice.”

Karolina listens intently throughout. Karolina begins asking: “So how come…”

Tina finishes her question: “Nico is still alive?”

Karolina nods.

“Nico visited your mother at the Church of Gibborim head office. Your grandfather had left a cryptic message intended for Nico in one of his journals. Afterwards, she came to me, saying that you were in danger and that she needed my help. Nico created a duplicate of herself. However, these duplicates are by themselves, empty vessels: they can’t do anything. In order to do anything with it, Nico had to inhabit it, live in it if you will.”

“So, Nico was really there with me in the basement?”

“Yes. She felt the blade enter her for a mortal wound and was freed to go back to her original body once her duplicate bled out. A willing blood sacrifice. I was casting the counter-spell on Nico’s duplicate, waiting for Alex to take the bait.”

Tina’s revelation sends Karolina in a state of turmoil, as her deep love and admiration for Nico are pit against the haunting, intrusive memories of seeing her die in such a brutal fashion. She wants to see Nico more than anything and tell her how much she loves her, but fears that the mere sight of her will elicit more flashbacks of seeing her die.

* * *

Molly walks into Chase and Gert’s bedroom. She finds Chase alone, his attention entirely focused on a sheet of paper in his hands. He gets startled when she asks: “Where’s Gert?”

Chase looks at her with teary eyes. “She’s gone.” He says, too choked up with emotion to say anything more.

Molly thinks to herself that his answer makes no sense. “What do you mean, she’s gone?”

Chase tries his best to contain himself. A single tear runs down his cheek as he says: “She’s gone. She left with Victor.”

Molly thinks that Chase’s explanation makes even less sense. Gert often brought up the sweet things Chase does whenever she was alone with her sister and only ever mentioned Victor as a friend. One of the running inside jokes between Gert and herself is how since she’s been seeing Chase, their heart-to-heart conversations are a testament of failing the Bechdel test and that she should hand in her feminist badge immediately.

“Chase, what are you talking about?”

His façade breaks down and he is such a mess that he finds himself unable to speak. His only response is to extend his hand and hold out the letter he found.

Molly takes the letter and reads it. She immediately notices that the handwriting perfectly resembles Gert’s. However, as she reads, she notices that something is off about the letter. It cannot possibly be Gert. Whoever had written this had seen Gert’s handwriting enough times to be able to perfectly replicate it. However, while they could match it from a purely cosmetic standpoint, they failed to fool Molly. She tries to get Chase’s attention: “Chase! Chase! Snap out of it!”

During the time it took Molly to read the letter and figure out what was wrong with it, Chase had become lost in his misery and despair. Noticing how completely unresponsive Chase seems to her calls for attention, Molly does a flawless impression of Gert: “Chase, you’re such an idiot!”

It works exactly as intended. Suddenly Chase turns toward Molly, his attention fully on her: “Wait, what?”

“This is so obviously _not_ Gert that I can’t believe you fell for it.” She says, proud of herself for having figured it out.

“Huh?”

Molly breaks it down for Chase. “First of all, my sister begins every written communication I’ve ever had with her with ‘Dear Molly’. She does the personalized first name ‘Dear X’ with everyone. Every. Damn. Time. It gets annoying.”

Chase goes through every email Gert has sent him that he’d memorized, and he notices that they always did start with a “Dear Chase”. Actually, it had changed to “Dearest Chase” at some point during the fall semester.

Molly continues: “Secondly, Gert always signs off with a ‘Best regards, Gert’. Always.”

Chase realizes Molly’s right.

Molly continues: “And third, which is the reason why you’re such an idiot for falling for it, is that Gert…”

She is cut off by Chase’s cell phone ringing. It’s Dale. Chase answers and puts it on speaker phone.

“Hi Dale, I’m here with Molly.”

“Hi Chase. Hi Molly. I’m here with Stacey. We thank you for taking Gert in. We just finished the bloodwork on Gert’s sample. We found a mixture of amphetamines and various other drugs in her blood.”

“Mr. Yorkes, I want you to know that Gert and I don’t do those drugs.”

“I know. Someone switched her meds. I had a look at the pill you left for me while you were there. The packaging, the pill shape, everything was made to look identical with Gert’s regular meds. But you can’t fool chemistry. This drug cocktail was specifically designed to boost her anxiety through the roof. Whoever it was that did this, they knew what her pills looked like beforehand and planned this thing.”

“Shit.”

“It gets worse.”

Chase sighs. “What is it?”

“Just to be thorough, we also checked for something else because you told me how her symptoms went away and seemed to come back. There were trace amounts of a medication that we’re testing right now to combat anxiety in Gert’s blood sample. It acts far more rapidly than anything out there at the moment and it doesn’t have the side effects of some of the more potent ones that make the people who take them sluggish, but it’s still in the process of approval. It shouldn’t even be out there yet except for our own studies. I personally double checked out our inventories and nothing was missing. Somehow, someone learned about this and knows how to synthesize it.”

“Who could know such a thing?”

“Aside from Stacey and myself? Members of our research team, whom I can personally vouch for, or someone from Wilder Innovators, whom I cannot vouch for. We had asked Wilder Innovators their help with developing a transdermal patch version of the anti-anxiety med. Alex doesn’t even work on this project, but maybe he learned about it somehow.”

“I’m afraid we also have bad news,” says Molly. “Gert’s not here. I think she’s been taken by the same person who messed with her meds. I also know who it is. It’s Victor.”

Somewhat confused, Dale asks: “Chase’s dad?”

Chase corrects him: “No, another Victor.”

Molly explains: “It’s in the letter he left for you, Chase. He didn’t want you coming after Gert and he knew that you’d respect Gert’s decision if she didn’t want to be with you anymore, even if doing so would eat away at you.”

They hear Stacey’s voice. “We’ll be right over.”

Immediately after they hang up, Nico calls for a team meeting in the dining area.

* * *

Gert comes to her senses lying on an acrylic carpet in a closed room with no windows. She walks over to the door and tries opening it, but finds it locked. Her shaking the door and handle must have made noises that drew attention, because pretty soon, she hears footsteps coming in the direction of the room she’s in. She backs away from the door. It opens and she sees Victorious enter. She glares at him.

“You better explain what’s happening right now.”

“Very well. I am Victorious. I am an electronic version of the curse on your friend Alex. I have taken over your friend which currently serves as my host.”

Gert answers: “I already know you’re Mancha.”

“That was indeed once my designation. But I have returned, Victorious.”

Gert recognizes remnants of the old Max in there. “You’ve been messing with my meds. That’s why I’ve been losing my mind since coming back to LA for spring break.”

“Yes, I have, with your friend Alex’s assistance. I made duplicates of your pills designed to worsen your anxiety. Alex replaced them for me while we met at _Timely Coffee_ on Saturday. I also slipped something into your tea while you met me there with your friends.”

“You also did something to make my symptoms disappear.”

“Yes. Your parents had begun phase III clinical trials for an anxiety medication in collaboration with Wilder Innovators. I accessed the _Wilder Innovators_ servers where I had access to all the technical documentation I needed." Victor raise his hands. "From there, I figured out to modify the sweat glands on my fingertips to synthesize the chemical compound. When you let me massage you, you received a dose.”

“Why?”

“My reason for doing so allowed me to pursue objectives that were compatible with the agreement I had with your friend Alex as well as the deal I had struck with my host. Please don’t take offense.”

“Taking offense? You’ve been messing with my head. It doesn’t get much more offensive than that. What’s that deal you struck anyways?”

“With Alex, it was vengeance against yourself, Chase Stein, Molly Hernandez, Karolina Dean, Nico Minoru, his father, his father’s girlfriend, and his ex-girlfriend. With my host, the deal was for him to get his memories back and your affections.”

Gert responds in a tone dripping with sarcasm: “I hate to be the one to break it to you, pal, but your courtship methods really suck.”

Unaffected by Gert’s sarcasm, Victorious responds somewhat regretfully: “I’m afraid that the conditions imposed upon me limit my effectiveness in the matter. Had I had my way, I would have preferred simply injecting you with nanites and proceeded to take over your mind. My host has a strong preference that I avoid resorting to that and my base programming forbid me from doing so without your consent. I feel fairly confident that if push comes to shove, I can coax him. If you were to give me your consent, it wouldn’t go against my base programming to have you undergo the same procedure as my host had.”

Gert responds defiantly. “I think you’ll find coaxing me a lot harder, I’m as stubborn as it gets. Hard pass.”

Victorious shrugs indifferently. “It might take longer, but in the end, it will make no difference. The anxiolytic dose I gave you in your bedroom will eventually begin wearing off. As your anxiety careens out of control, whom will you turn to for help? And I will be right there to provide it to you. As time passes, you will come to see me as your salvation.”

Gert is outraged by Victorious’ view of her as something to be poked and prodded until she gives the proper response. “Really? Because right now, I’m thinking of the opposite.”

Victorious is unfazed by Gert’s non-cooperation. In a perfectly calm voice, he answers: “In due time, you will come to see things the way I want you to. In the meantime, I can wait. You will find out that I’m very patient.”

“My friends will come for me.”

Victorious responds matter-of-factly: “No, they won’t. Your friend Alex used Karolina to lure Nico into a trap. As I speak, your friend Nico is dead, killed by Alex’s hand, as he had requested my assistance to accomplish. Your friend Karolina is in his custody, and I’m sure that he intends to kill her slowly and painfully. If he’s still alive, Chase won’t be coming for you either, seeing as you just broke his heart.”

Gert gives him a _what the fuck did you do_ glare.

“Forgive my omission, but I failed to specify the terms of Alex’s revenge against Chase. He wanted me to carry out winning your affections in a manner that was as painful to Chase as possible. I’m afraid that he found a letter in your handwriting breaking up with him back in your bedroom.”

“You son of a bitch,” answers Gert unable to conceal her outrage.

Unflappable, Victorious continues in a pleasant tone. “You should be thanking me. My host is a far more compatible match for you. After all, things in life only hold us back if we let them.” He pauses so that what he says next has maximum impact. “All alone, how long do you think Molly will last once she’s lost her entire family again? Face it, I am all that you have left.”

“That’s not true,” Gert says, refusing to believe him.

“I believe that you will find me to be honest as you get to know me. As time passes and you begin to realize that your friends won’t be coming for you just as I told you would happen, you will come to accept my truth, and your anxiety symptoms will spike as you go through withdrawal. Then, it will only be a matter of time before you finally yield to me for reprieve. If the anxiety symptoms get to be too much, you can always call me for comfort. Or if you want a more permanent solution, you can have the same procedure as my host had. I promise you’ll never experience anxiety ever again.”

Horrified by Victorious’ offer, Gert musters up the courage to respond with as much determination as she can: “Not. Going. To happen.”

“Are you sure? I can promise you freedom from anxiety for the rest of your days. Can Chase? If it’s the idea that you love Chase that is causing you to resist, fact of the matter is that love is just a matter of neural chemistry. Believe me, the love you’ll feel for my host will be just as real that the one you feel for Chase at the moment. You of all people should know it best. After all, isn’t it what your anxiety disorder is all about, neurochemistry?”

“Maybe it is, but that still doesn’t make a lick of difference. The only way you’d be able to do that would be to push your mindfuckery to new levels. As I said earlier, hard pass.”

Unswayed by Gert’s response, Victorious indifferently answers: “You confided in my host that you once betrayed Chase’s trust for your anxiety medication. It shows the lengths to which you’ll go to get your medication when the symptoms get bad enough. If it’s happened once before, I believe that it can happen again. If you’ll excuse me, there are other matters that I must attend to at the moment. I will let you think about what I said and let it sink in. I’ll be back soon enough. The offer will remain open for as long as it takes for you to accept. I know that sooner or later you’ll see reason.”

Victorious leaves. Gert manages to stay composed, but privately fears that she will have to fight off the creeping despair in a battle against her anxiety that she can only prolong, but cannot possibly hope to win in the long run. She wishes her friends were with her. To keep hope alive, she tries to think of things she’d like to do when she gets out of there. Going back to Smith. Talking with her sister again. Hanging out with her friends. Telling Chase how she feels about him. She makes a promise to herself as she holds onto these thoughts as best she can. 

* * *

The Runaways await the arrival of their parents for a meeting to discuss the situation with Victor and Gert’s disappearance, Nico standing at one end of the hall and Karolina, at the opposite end alongside Tina Minoru. Cassandra stands mostly by herself, uncomfortable both with being the only person who barely knows anyone in a situation where everyone knows everyone else and with the role she played in the events that took place. Dale and Stacey Yorkes are the first to arrive, looking deathly worried about Gert. Chase and Molly walk up greet them, thanking them for their help and showing them the letter Victor had left. Geoffrey Wilder arrives next and he is so overjoyed to see his son safe and sound that he rushes over to him and picks him up in a bear hug as soon as he spots him. Alex smiles genuinely, moved that his father wouldn’t hold a grudge against him. Geoffrey thanks Nico profusely for her role in bringing his son back.

They all gather around in the dining room.

All eyes are on Alex, as he addresses everyone: “Let me begin by saying that I’m very sorry about everything that’s happened. I really don’t know what to say.”

“Then get to the point, Wilder,” Chase says, a little impatiently, unable to help being a little angry with Alex despite knowing about the mitigating circumstances.

“I, uh, I mean, while I was under the spell, my curse used my knowledge to figure out how to make a digital copy of itself. It even sent me the perfect person to help me see it through. Through me, the curse had access to all I know about tech and all the knowledge contained in the Abstract. It used this knowledge and the means at my disposal to develop technology that allowed it to make electronic copies of itself. I knew that I needed allies to fight against you, and I knew the perfect host. I knew that Victor had lost his memories and his sense of self and that he desperately yearned to retrieve them. Under the guise of offering him the opportunity to go back to his past life, I tempted him to undergo a procedure that would allow him to retrieve his memories. Unbeknownst to him, I installed the curse onto him. It identified the same vulnerability that I sensed to take control of him. I tasked him to do my bidding in taking my revenge against you. He was supposed to help me draw Nico into a trap to take her out and take control of the Staff of One. He also had a deal with the host. He wanted his memories back, and, uh, he wanted Gert’s affections. To do that, he was going to break her down and remake her.”

“That must be why he tampered with her meds,” says Dale.

“Actually, I’m the one who did that for him,” confesses Alex. “I swapped her meds with the ones he gave me while you were out with Victorious at _Timely Coffee_ last Saturday.”

“You gave her something that you knew would make her anxiety go out of control,” Chase says, outraged.

Alex tries his best to remain in control over himself, but his face and tone convey the guilt he feels over the actions he took. “Yes. It served my overall divide and conquer strategy for you guys. I’m so sorry.”

“Alright,” says Nico, “what do we need to know about this cyborg of yours besides the fact that his idea of wooing someone involve kidnapping and slipping them drugs?”

Alex continues: “He can transform his body into whatever he can figure out how to do, and that machine is smart. Its capacity to learn things is far beyond our own. Its ability to process information to come up with the optimal tactical decision at any given time gives him a tremendous advantage. I had originally come up with a plan to take him out, but it required me to wield your powers to do so. Uh, I obviously don’t want that anymore, but I think the general idea of the plan still works if we all work together. The deal I had struck with it was to exact revenge on you all for protecting Tamar and the woman who killed my mother.”

“Do we have _any_ advantage,” asks Molly.

“Yes. Because I wanted all your powers for myself, I never told him about any of your special talents or about Old Lace. If he’d known, he would have wanted to claim them for himself. He knows Nico can make portals, but I don’t think he knows much more than that. I knew that I had to get rid of him as soon as possible after carrying out my vengeance, and I had planned to acquire everyone’s powers to achieve this goal. Karolina, I have to ask you, if you can fly without lighting up, I’d like you to be our eye in the sky. But if you’re shining that bright, goodbye element of surprise.”

Karolina does her best to block out the thoughts of the last time Alex had spoken to her as she listens. “Uh, I never tried, so I really have no idea.”

She tries it on the spot but fails. She finds it difficult to balance the act of flying, not glowing in addition to blocking out the recollection of the events with Alex and Nico that being around them is bringing up at the moment. “I suppose I could, but it might require practice and my concentration isn’t at its best at the moment.”

“Okay,” answers Alex, “well, since we can’t count on that for now, let’s plan around it. If you can, let me know, it’ll make it all a lot easier. I was supposed to meet up with Victorious after we completed our tasks in the same place where I did the intervention on him. Given how he and I were already plotting against each other and that the only thing that kept him faithful to me was that he was bound to a pact with me, I suspect that whatever welcome I get is going to be less than warm. I was planning to claim the Staff of One for myself and then everyone else’s special gifts. I was then going to march there and toy with Victorious with everything at my disposal, before finally defeating him once and for all.”

Alex continues: “The building has two floors. There is a main entrance, in front of the building, an emergency exit, in the back, and a side entrance for deliveries. First floor is the main lobby plus storage. Second floor is where the lab is and empty offices. There is also a rooftop exit. Let’s just say that I went a little crazy on the surveillance. I installed tons of security cameras. In addition, I had a patrol of drone cameras cycling the perimeter. If I were going to be found out by all of you, I knew that I needed to get away before you could close in. But if Victor’s in there looking, he’ll know we’re coming, and he’ll be able to come up with a plan to take us out. We need him in a situation in which he’ll be going in blind.”

“Whatever happens, we need to get Gert away from him,” says Chase.

“I can’t disagree with that, but if we’re going to do that, one of us will have to sneak in unseen. That means disabling the cameras. They’re connected to a closed network that can only be accessed from the control room inside, which is where Victorious most likely spends the bulk of his time.”

“Okay, so it seems pretty straightforward that we need to take out the cameras first.”

“Chase, I designed the security system myself. I know all the blind spots. I designed it so there is no obvious direct way in. You’d need the stealth and agility of a freaking ninja to do that. None of us here have that.”

“Let me take care of that. We just need a communication system. Let me take care of the rest. Don’t worries, those cameras will come down. What comes next?”

“Fine,” answers Alex, “just don’t do anything stupid. The rest of us will be counting on you.”

“I won’t. So, that plan of yours, security cameras get taken out. What next?”

“Uh, I approach the building by myself and ask him to come out to meet me. I keep him distracted there long enough so you go in, take Gert, and get out.”

“That’s your grand plan? And you’re telling me not to do anything stupid?”

“Relax, Nico will be there with me. She’ll just stay back out of sight, ready to intervene if anything goes wrong. As far as Victorious knows, I still have the curse and he’s still bound by his promise to me and to his host.”

“What if he makes a run for it,” asks Molly.

“One of us will be keeping watch on every exit. If they see him make a break for it, they call in help, and we close in on him.”

Chase asks: “Okay, let's say things go according to plan. You chat for a bit, then what?”

“I tell him that I still require his help with fulfilling my vengeance. As this is going on, Cassandra opens a portal for you to sneak inside. You take Gert and leave. No need for heroics. If he fails to secure Gert’s affections, control should revert back to Max, we’ll then bring him in and disable the nanites with the same helmet that was used to program them in the first place.”

“That seems like a very iffy proposition, that only works if Victorious gives up on Gert.”

“It won't come to that. As soon as Gert's safe, we can move in on him without fear of what he might do, and he won't have any backup. We'll have three magic practicioners in Nico, Tina, and Cassandra in addition to Molly and Karolina. And if if he locks himself up or anything, he’ll have to come for her. We'll have homecourt advantage and we’ll be ready for him. Do you have a better plan?”

“I hate to admit it, but you have a point,” answers Chase.

* * *

Karolina enters her room after the team meeting and exhales for a long time. She doesn’t know if she’s ready for this, but it doesn’t seem like she has much of a choice in the matter: her friend is in danger and they have to react rapidly. She hopes that she can perform well enough, but has her doubts. She privately hopes nothing will be required of her. She finds a note. It’s from Nico.

> _Hi Karolina,_
> 
> _I understand if you don’t want to see me, but I want you to know what you mean to me and why I’ll always be there for you. I hate that I caused you pain. I know that my mother already explained why, so I won’t bother going over it again. I just want you to know that I would not have made it through this ordeal without your support. I’m really sorry that all you got out of it was pain. It was unfair to you; you deserved so much better than that after everything you did for me._
> 
> _You’ve always made me happy. Even after Amy died, seeing you always made my day brighter. And I hated myself for it. I wanted to feel sad. I felt that if I wasn’t feeling sad enough, I was betraying my sister somehow, as if that meant I didn’t love her enough or something. And being even a little bit happy made me feel guilty, so I pulled away from you back then. And then I saw how the assholes at school treated you. And every time I saw you, you seemed a little less happy than the time before. Until one day I saw how sad you were, and I thought, if I’d been there for you, I would have seen to it to make you as happy as I can._
> 
> _I want to be there for you, but I know that seeing me makes you upset and I don’t want that for you. I just want to know that you can take as much time as you need, I’ll always be there for you. In the meantime, if there’s anything you need or that I can help you with, just let me know and I’ll be happy to do it._
> 
> _Yours truly,_
> 
> _Your Nico_


	27. Rise Like Lions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Runaways confront Victorious

Gert sits alone on the floor of her makeshift cell, knees to her chest as she leans forward, hugging her knees with her arms, trying her best to hold onto the hope that her friends were on their way and to chase away the thoughts that Victorious was telling the truth and nobody was coming to her help. As she’s carefully monitoring her own thoughts to stave off despair for as long as she can, she suddenly feels something. It’s Old Lace’s presence, inviting her to patch in. She does so immediately. She looks around: she is outside, in a wooded area, at night, and her friends are there. The first voice she hears once she is in Old Lace is Chase addressing Alex: “Old Lace better be okay after this. I don’t know what Gert would do if anything bad happened to her.”

Old Lace lets loose a joyful roar.

Chase says: “What is it, Old Lace, have you found her? Gert, if you can hear me, could you have Old Lace nod?”

Old Lace nods.

“Great,” Chase continues, “Alex is with us. Nico managed to break the curse and he wants to help out. You’ll have to trust him. He knows this place inside out. Thing is, before we even come close, we’ll need someone to disable the security cameras. That’s where you come in. He’ll talk you through it. Is that okay with you?”

Old Lace nods and focuses her gaze on Alex.

“Thank you. Before we start, these cameras are unaffected by the dark”, he says, holding up a picture of one of the cameras he had installed all around the property, “Behind these cameras as I’m pointing out in the schematics, is the optical feed that links them to the home security network hub. I will talk you through the location of each one and you cut the optical feed for each one. Is that okay?”

Old Lace nods again.

“Another thing: I know that it may sound obvious, but it’s going to be very important for you not to get spotted as you do it. I need to draw out Victorious in order for this plan to work, and he can’t know that I have anyone’s help. If he knows that it’s not me doing it and that we’re coming for you, he might lock himself in. If he does that, that means that the only way inside will be either via portal or by breaking the door down. He’ll know we’re coming, and he’ll be able to come up with a plan to take us out. We need the element of surprise on our side. The last thing we want is to go toe to toe with a cyborg supercomputer with biological and cybernetic enhancements in a situation where it knows we’re coming and we’re going in blind. That just can’t end well for us.”

“No pressure,” chimes in Chase as reassuringly as he can.

“Don’t worry, Gert’s got this,” adds Molly.

“Okay, Chase customized an earpiece for Old Lace so I could talk you through the process. The first camera you’ll have to disable is the one high up on that tree,” he says pointing in its direction. “Can you do that?”

Old Lace runs off. Chase smiles and tells Alex: “I don’t think I could ever get tired of seeing this. Prepare to have your mind blown.”

Old Lace runs and makes an impressive running leap onto the tree, climbs the rest of the way with ease, cuts the wire with her claw, and rapidly climbs back down with grace. Alex detects some of Gert’s attitude when Old Lace looks at him with her arms crossed and tapping her foot impatiently afterwards. Alex stares mouth agape in surprise not only at witnessing firsthand Gert’s proficiency with Old Lace, but also at recognizing Gert’s mannerisms.

Chase chuckles: “Told you so. Now keep going.”

Alex catches himself. “Uh, uh, yeah. What was I saying? Oh yeah. The next one’s going to be trickier. In addition to the camera you have to disable, you also have to avoid coming into camera view of the two drones patrolling the area. Fortunately, there are lots of bushes to take cover on the ground.”

Old Lace rapidly heads off, stealthily and rapidly sneaking her way into position n an extraordinary display of agility as she sprints, hurdles, leaps, and makes use of her environment to avoid being seen with great proficiency. After studying the movement patterns of the drone cameras from behind a bush, Gert notices a small gap in coverage. She gets in position, times her dash, leaps, disables the second camera mid flight, and slips out undetected by the two drones without breaking stride.

“Wow, okay,” says Alex, clearly impressed.

“Come on Wilder, we need to move,” says Chase.

“Okay, looks like we can start to come in closer,” says Alex, “Everyone get ready to go into position as we discussed. Nico, my dad, and I will move in towards the front exit. Karolina and Tina will guard the backdoor. Molly, Dale, and Stacey will guard the delivery area. Cassandra will open a portal. She and Chase will use my and Cassandra’s key cards to look for Gert in the office section. Stay in radio contact. Keep everyone updated.” he says pointing to his earpiece.

“I feel like I’m in one of those cool spy movies,” says an excited Molly into her earpiece.

“Molly, focus,” responds Nico.

“I am focused,” she protests.

“Okay everyone, I can’t mess this up, so quiet,” says Chase, taking advantage of the blind spot created by Old Lace to come in closer. He shoots down the two drone cameras with the Fistigons, allowing Old Lace to come out of the bushes she was hidden in. He high fives Old Lace.

“Okay,” says Alex, focusing on the task at hand, “Tina, Karolina, it looks like you can get into position. Gert, are you ready for the next section?”

Old Lace nods.

“Great.”

* * *

Alex walks up to the front door to confront his creation. After taking out the last of the security cameras, Old Lace had gone along with Molly, Stacey, Dale, Chase, and Cassandra to a secluded spot where she could open a portal out of sight from Victorious.

Nico watches closely as Victorious comes out to meet Alex. “Okay, Victorious is coming out. Chase, Cassandra, that’s your cue,” she says.

“On it,” answers Cassandra. She opens a portal and walks through it with Chase into the office section on the second floor. All the lights on the floor are turned off except for the emergency lights.

“Okay everyone, we’re in. Beginning search now. We’ll notify you when we find Gert,” says Chase.

Chase and Cassandra split up to hasten the search. They each use a security key card to open the doors and search each office: Cassandra uses her own key card, and Chase uses Alex’s as they begin the search.

Outside, Alex is facing Victorious in front of the entrance to his former secret facility. Before coming out, Victorious had turned on floodlights and stood behind them in the darkness so as to remain invisible. Alex remains far enough back from the lights to be able to react should the need arise, although he privately wonders if he should be standing back further.

“Hello Alex. I hope you don’t mind the precaution, but the manner of your arrival was suspicious to say the least. Knocking out your security cameras to enter your own property,” Victorious asks, trying to ascertain the threat that Alex represents.

“Hello Victorious. Don’t take offense, but I just don’t trust you. Didn’t want to take the chance that you’d be setting me up.”

“None taken. If it’s any consolation, I don’t trust you either. You’re certainly running uncharacteristically late.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I encountered… complications in dealing with Nico.”

As soon as he hears Alex say _I’m sorry_ , Victorious knows something is off; the Alex he knew never would apologize under any circumstance. Still, he senses a trap, but doesn’t quite know what Alex has up his sleeve. He determines that he must find out in order to turn the situation to his advantage. He decides to test the waters carefully to ascertain the risks involved. “Have you succeeded in carrying out your vengeance, or do you still require my services?”

Alex answers: “I still need your help. I have successfully eliminated Nico Minoru and Karolina Dean is now my prisoner, but Chase Stein and Molly Hernandez are still at large. They have Cassandra with them now. I can deal with the rest by myself.”

“I see. Well, they’re probably back at the Hostel as we speak. I’m afraid that I can no longer go back there to collect information for you, as I doubt that I would get a warm welcome given the circumstances surrounding my departure. I’m afraid that I burned some bridges.”

“That’s a shame. What did you do?”

“I abducted Gertrude Yorkes.”

Alex pauses for as long as he plausibly can to stall. Fortunately, the anger he feels with himself over his responsibility for the events that took place can easily be interpreted as displeasure with Victorious. “I see. May I ask why?”

“I’m afraid that I had no choice in the matter: she figured out that I was working with you. She would have warned the others about me, which ultimately would have hindered your plan. You will be glad to hear that I took advantage of the opportunity to leave Chase a letter in Gert’s handwriting breaking up with him.”

Alex manages to hide his discomfort at knowing that he instructed Victorious to do something like that. “Okay. So, what do you suggest we do now?”

“Text your friends to let them know where we are, come inside with me we’ll ambush them there.”

Alex tries to think of ways to stall: Chase hasn’t made contact to let everyone know that he found Gert, which means that he must still be inside. Plus, there’s just no way he trusts Victorious enough to follow him at the moment: he can just tell that he has something devious planned.

Alex counters: “Why don’t we go over there instead and finish them off while we still have the element of surprise? They’d never see us coming.”

Victorious senses that Alex wishes to draw him out. However, he knows that his assessment of the situation is incomplete. Alex continues: “Need I remind you that your are bound to my will until you are released? Come out and meet me now.”

Victorious knows that he is under obligation to obey, but detects something off. He decides to use the situation to his advantage and take advantage of the element of surprise to investigate. He is going to bluff, a tactic he had learned being around Alex. Victorious lunges aggressively out of the lights and stops short of Alex. Alex flinches as Nico and Geoffrey come out of their hiding spot to defend him. They are immediately spotted by Victorious. _So, this is what Alex had up his sleeve_. _But why would they show up when they were counted among the people against whom he had been plotting with all along_? _The curse must have gotten lifted_. That meant that he is now freed from his obligation to Alex. His only remaining obligation is to his host. 

“Molly, Tina, to the front door now, I have him,” he hears Alex say.

Victorious determines that he is walking into a setup and that his best course of action given this unexpected turn of events is to fall back and strategize. He turns heels and runs back inside. Alex runs after him to the door. Too late it’s already locked. He knows that they’re up against time. At the rate this machine is learning, it will not need much time to find a way.

Chase and Cassandra hear Alex over their earpiece as they are going through offices looking for Gert: “Chase, Cassandra, get out of there. Victorious went back inside and locked the front door. He knows something’s up. Come back immediately.”

“But we haven’t found Gert yet. This could be our only shot at this and we’re most of the way through,” answers Chase.

Karolina lights up and takes flight. “I’m going in.”

“Wait,” says an alarmed Nico, “he’ll see you coming, and he’ll know you have powers. He’ll want to catch you.”

“I know. I’m counting on it,” answers Karolina assertively as she heads for the roof.

“Can we at least talk about it?”

“There’s no time. Anyways, what’s there to talk about? Chase needs more time to find Gert, and I can provide a distraction.”

“What if he catches you?”

“He won’t. Just, everyone watch my back.”

Karolina enters the building from the rooftop exit and gets to the second floor.

“Karolina, where are you?”

“I’m inside.”

“We can’t watch your back like this. The windows are reflective, and we can’t see inside.”

“Let me help,” Karolina answers, as she lights up.

It works, as Nico and Geoffrey can see Karolina from outside. Something's wrong.

“Karolina, he’s behind you,” Nico yells.

Karolina turns around to see Victorious running towards her at an intimidating, superhuman pace. Karolina takes off within the building and flies away with him in pursuit. Thankfully, she’s still faster than him when she’s flying, so she can still put some distance between them in straight lines. The tricky part is maneuvering in such a confined space. She soon finds herself racing down a hallway, offices on her left and windows facing the exterior on her right, Victorious in hot pursuit. Nico looks on with great concern, barely able to keep her composure.

“It’s working! I’m drawing him in. Nico, get ready, I’m coming to you,” Karolina says.

“Please don’t get caught,” Nico answers.

“I won’t. I promise.”

Karolina quickly approaches the building corner. She knows that she’s going to have to make a hard left, and that she can’t slow down given how close behind her Victorious is. She angles her flight diagonally towards the windows to her right and adjusts her flight roll axis so that her stomach faces the window, turns off her powers, lets her momentum carry her forward, does a wall run on the windows, pushes off, quickly lights back up, and re-accelerates back to her previous speed.

Geoffrey laughs in amazement and looks at Nico: “Looks like your girl can take care of herself. Come on, let’s get ready.”

They await Karolina and Victorious’ arrival. Karolina emerges from the building. Nico rushes into her arms.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again. Come on, he should be here any second now.”

Thinking of the urgency of the situation, Karolina opts to disregard her mixed feelings for the moment: being back in Nico’s arms had felt so good, but being told never to scare Nico like that again bothers her given how she still feels about witnessing Nico’s death. _I’ll have to talk about it again with Nico later_ , she thinks to herself.

They wait, until they realize that there’s no way that Victorious could have taken this long to get there: he must have abandoned the pursuit at some point. He must have figured out that they were trying to draw him out.

“Everyone, get back to your original positions. Chase, Cassandra, what’s your situation?”

They hear Chase’s excited voice. “I found Gert!”

* * *

Chase finally opens the door to Gert’s makeshift cell. His search had been facilitated by Gert banging on the door. He just had to come within hearing range to find her. He swipes Alex’s keycard and opens the door. She’s never been so happy to see him in her life. She throws herself into his arms, wanting to savour the moment forever despite knowing that time is of the essence.

“Come on, we have to go now,” he says. He continues: “Cassandra, I’m by office 210-27. Come meet me, I found Gert, we need a portal now.”

He waits a bit. No response. He speaks again: “Cassandra, where are you, we need an exit now.”

Gert and Chase get startled when they hear a calm voice say: “I’m afraid that she ran into me not too long ago as I was on my way here,” he says, showing up carrying Cassandra’s limp body over his shoulder. He notices them looking at Cassandra. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. I wouldn’t hurt such a promising candidate to undergo the same procedure as my host did. I must commend you for your valiant efforts, but ultimately, they will have been in vain.”

“I don’t want to fight you,” says Chase.

“A wise decision,” Victorious answers as he deposits Cassandra on the floor. 

“But I will if I have to.”

“I see. Pity.”

Chase doesn’t take his eyes off Victorious as he and Gert slowly back away holding hands.

“Be careful, Chase, he’s dangerous.”

Victorious takes advantage of a split-second moment of inattention on Chase’s part as he throws a brief glance at Gert, to lunge at him with incredible speed and swipe at Chase with a scalpel. Chase reflexively manages to partially avoid the slash, but is cut at the neck. He takes advantage of the proximity between himself and Victorious to grab his arm in passing. Barely managing to hold on when Victorious tries to free himself, Chase grabs Victorious’ right arm with both hands. Victorious knees Chase in the midsection. Chase doubles over in pain as he rolls on the floor. Seeing Victorious closing in, he starts shooting with the Fistigons. The first blast catches Victorious by surprise and connects. The shot makes Victorious fly into a window, cracking it, and drop his weapon, but he lands back on his feet and starts moving forward again, unfazed. Chase shoots twice, but Victorious dodges both shots with ease. Chase’s missed shots cause the windows behind Victorious to shatter. In desperation, Chase makes a grasping gesture in Victorious’ direction. An energy shield wraps up Victorious and immobilizes him, stopping his forward progression.

Victorious sounds pleasantly surprised as he says, looking at the Fistigons with great interest: “An energy shield? Ingenious. This will come in handy. I will charge them and use them against your friends. Then I will take them apart and figure out how to integrate them within this body of mine. Thank you, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Victorious smiles as he continues in a pleasant voice without any hint of aggression or sarcasm: “You don’t really think that this is going to stop me, do you? Your gauntlets are impressive, but by the looks of them, it certainly looks like you can’t go anywhere while holding me in place. It also appears that they must require batteries. Putting up a continuous shield like that must be really demanding on them, especially when your shields have to contain large amounts of kinetic energy and strong forces. I do wonder how long they’ll last against me before running out. I’d guess thirty seconds at most.”

Victorious strains against the shields, the effort visible on his face. Noticing the indicators on his Fistigons showing the battering depleting at an alarming rate, Chase answers: “They’ll last long enough. Gert, get going! I’ll hold him back as long as I can.”

Gert remains stuck to her spot as if her boots were glued to the floor. Chase is too single mindedly focused on Victorious to look back. Soon the Fistigons’ batteries falter. Chase gets into a fighting stance, knowing full well that he can’t hope to beat Victorious. Victorious slowly approaches, having completed his analysis of Chase’s fighting style, and identified the proper technique to use for his next attack. In one fluid motion, Victorious feints a kick, grabs Chase by the arm and collar, then proceeds to throw him with prodigious force into a wall. He crashes with a sickening thud, before falling to the floor. Victorious looks on at Chase, dizzy, stumbling around and crawling on all four, apparently fascinated by Chase struggling to get back up. He casually walks back to where he dropped his weapon. As he’s about to bend down to pick it up, Old Lace blindsides him by ramming him with a vicious running headbutt, and sends him flying through one of the windows that was shattered by Chase’s Fistigon blast.

Chase faints as Gert exits Old Lace’s mind and begins moving again. She rushes over and sees that Chase is unconscious and still bleeding from the neck. “No, no, no, no, no, Chase, please wake up. Come on, wake up!” As hard as she wishes, Chase nevertheless remains unresponsive.

She takes his earpiece, equips it, and speaks into it: “Chase has been hurt and needs help. Someone, please come over,” she says as she begins having a panic attack.

She hears her mother’s voice: “We’re almost there.”

Dale and Stacey arrive on the scene, having followed Old Lace after she rushed upstairs to save Chase. Stacey rushes over to Chase as Dale heads to check up on Gert. Dale takes Gert aside and says: “It’s okay honey, mommy and I will take good care of Chase. For now, just remember that and focus on your breathing, okay? Just focus on my voice, forget about everything else.” Gert is too shaken up to speak, but she nods in agreement as she concentrates on taking slow, deep breaths.

As Dale keeps Gert occupied, Stacey completes her examination of Chase and hurries over to the broken window and yells out “Nico, get up here. We need a portal stat!”

* * *

Molly, Dale, Stacey, and Old Lace wait by the delivery exit. Molly chafes waiting at her spot, every fiber of her being yelling at her to break the door down and rush inside. Instead, she feels like she’s being left at the kids’ table as Chase and Cassandra get to do the grownup stuff. They hear a collision cracking the second-floor window above their exit, then see it and another window shatter. Molly immediately recognizes the sights and sounds of Fistigon blasts. Gert and Chase must be in trouble. Suddenly, Old Lace takes off from their hiding spot and rushes towards the door, desperately clawing and ramming at it. Dale and Stacey come to her aid as they ask Molly to break the door down. She gladly does so. As soon as the door is broken down, Old Lace doesn’t bother waiting for anyone as she runs off inside. Stacey and Dale follow Old Lace into the building as they order Molly to stay at her spot, much to her disappointment. They soon find that they can’t keep up with Old Lace and get lost. An unnerving silence lingers at Molly’s spot, followed by a thud. Unexpectedly, Victorious flies through the window and falls to the ground outside in front of Molly, landing on his feet. “I have Victorious right in front of me,” she says with a smile, relishing the opportunity to prove her mettle. Victorious turns around to face her.

“You’re not going anywhere,” she tells him, completely unintimidated.

“Everyone, close in on Molly’s position immediately,” Nico says with purpose.

They hear Gert’s alarmed voice over their earpiece: “Chase has been hurt and needs help. Someone, please come over.”

They hear Stacey’s voice over their earpiece: “We’re almost there.”

Karolina and Tina arrive on the scene to see Molly throwing down with Victorious. He tries the same move he did on Chase, but is surprised when Molly doesn’t budge an inch at his attempt to move her.

“Is this what you were trying to do,” she asks as she picks him up and throws him into the side of a metal container, making a large dent in it. Victorious is shaken up by the force of the impact, realizing that he had underestimated Molly’s strength. Regardless, he was still in this, but he’d have to be careful: taking more hits like this meant the fight would be over very rapidly, so he couldn’t afford taking too many chances. He begins studying her closely, prioritizing figuring out a way to go up against her. He detects slight signs of fatigue in her demeanour, although she still has gas left in the tank. He shifts his fight strategy to wearing her down. When she is too exhausted to fight is when he will strike decisively.

“Careful, Molly. Remember, we don’t want to kill him,” says Karolina.

“Tell him that,” Molly responds, annoyed at having to hold back against an opponent who clearly wasn’t going to.

Alex arrives holding a helmet hooked up to a laptop, along with Nico and Geoffrey.

They see Stacey poke her head out of a broken window: “Nico, get up here. We need a portal stat!”

Nico looks guiltily at Karolina.

“It’s okay. Go,” she responds.

“Please come back safely,” Nico responds. 

* * *

A portal opens in front of the Yorkes residence. Dale and Stacey walk through, carrying Chase’s limp body, his feet dragging along the ground. Behind them are Gert and Nico, helping Cassandra along: they managed to wake her up, but she is unable to walk in a straight line due to the effects of the drugs Victorious gave her. Old Lace comes along as well, being especially cuddly with Gert given the need for reassurance she senses. 

They take Chase upstairs and install him in Gert’s old bedroom.

“Get lots of pillows,” Stacey tells Gert, “It important that his upper body remain elevated. We’ll prop him up.”

She walks through the house at a rapid pace, gathering as many pillows and cushions as she can carry. On her way back, she crosses paths with Dale walking out of the room at a brisk pace. When she comes back, she asks, as her gaze remains fixated on Chase’s motionless body, and her voice filled with worry: “Will he be okay?”

Stacey ponders her options for a response. Her natural inclination to tell Gert a reassuring lie having caused serious issues, she opts not to sugarcoat the reality of the situation to her daughter. “I… just don’t know, honey.” Her clinical training takes over as she manages to take control over herself and continues: “The good news is that the gash on his neck isn’t anything serious. All his arteries are fine, so it’s not life threatening. I’ll stitch him up and it’ll leave a scar, but that’s about it regarding that injury.”

Gert doesn’t want to ask, but she has to know. “What’s the bad news?”

“The bad news is that I think that Chase also has cerebral edema.”

Gert’s worries suddenly explode out of control. “What does that mean? Is he going to die?”

Stacey feels powerless about the effect of the news she delivered to her daughter might have on her, but she had pledged to herself that she wasn’t going to hide information from her daughter anymore in efforts to protect her. “Right now, his brain is swelling as a result of an injury he sustained during that fight. He could make a full recovery. He could die. He could come out with a permanent disability. I just don’t know.” Stacey tears up, knowing that she just gave terrible news to her daughter and worries how it will play into her anxiety issues.

Gert asks: “What are you going to do about it?”

“Right now, we’re doing everything we can to reduce the swelling. One thing we’re going to do is put him under so his brain won’t need as much blood supply to function. I’m going to intubate him to keep up his oxygen levels. Your father is busy synthesizing some propofol down at the lab for Chase. It’s an anaesthetic used in the treatment of cerebral edema.”

“How long is it going to take him to synthesize it?”

“I didn’t ask, so I don’t know,” Stacey answers, knowing that it’s unlikely that Dale will have it ready in time.

“He won’t have it ready in time,” intervenes Cassandra, leaning against the wall to keep her balance, her speech slurred by the drugs Victorious gave her, which also have the effect of making her lose her inhibitions.

“Thanks for the information,” snaps Nico, angry about the effect that Cassandra’s words might have on Gert.

Oblivious to Nico’s tone, Cassandra slurs on: “We have some back at the lab.” She tries to let go of the wall and takes a step before stumbling and falling down like a drunk. She gets back up and tries to open a portal, but fails. “Uh, it seems like those drugs I’m on are messing with my abilities at the moment.”

“That’s okay,” says Nico as she picks up her cell phone. “I’ll open the portal.”

She finds the picture she was looking for.

“Come on, Gert, help me,” she says as she wraps Cassandra’s arm around her shoulder to help her stay up.

They end up back where Nico and Geoffrey were earlier that evening. Nico sees Molly and Karolina fighting Victorious. It’s still a stalemate, but Molly is starting to show signs of weariness. Alex is waiting by with his computer and helmet in his hand, waiting for Victorious to be subdued so he can put the helmet on Victorious and deactivate his machines.

“It looks like they need help,” Nico says as she makes eye contact with Alex.

“Nico, I can’t do this by myself. How am I supposed to drag a semi-conscious witch and then get back?”

Nico talks into her headpiece.

“Alex, meet me in the labs. I got an idea. Everyone else keep Victorious busy. I just need to do something, and I’ll be coming to help you out.”

“On it,” answers Molly.

Cassandra guides them to the lab, where they find Alex already waiting for them.

“Took you long enough,” he says impatiently.

“Sorry, we were dragging her along the whole way, and she was barely coherent,” answers Nico.

“Chase needs propofol,” interrupts Gert.

“Of course, let me grab some,” says Alex. He continues: “That’s a powerful anaesthetic. Why does he need that?”

“He’s got cerebral edema,” Gert answers drily, feeling more and more impatient every passing second.

“Okay, I got advanced neuroimaging tech here. Let me just grab that over there.”

He looks over at Cassandra. She’s in no state to operate the machine. “I could operate it, but I can’t be there and here at the same time.”

“Just tell me what I need to do,” answers Nico.

“Uh, I got the deactivation sequence on this USB key right here. The helmet here works with optics and will transmit it. Afterwards, Max will go back to being himself.”

Nico opens a portal for Gert, Cassandra, and Alex. After they walk through, she heads towards where she had last seen Victorious facing off against Karolina. She arrives and sees Victorious managing to hold his own against everyone, looking as fresh as a daisy. Seeing Nico arrive, he picks up a rock and throws it at the helmet. It shatters into hundreds of pieces. Everyone looks a little dejected. Geoffrey addresses Karolina: “Could you do what the helmet does?”

“Uh, maybe. Thing is, I don't even know what I'd be supposed to do.”

“I think I have a solution. Mom, can you give Molly a boost? She’s beginning to look a little worn.”

Molly suddenly feels a surge of energy course its way through her. All the fatigue she felt dissipates.

“Molly, I’m going to need him to be immobilized so the next part works. Can you pin him down?”

Molly immediately charges at Victorious. Turns out that she had also studied him closely as they were squaring off earlier: he reacts well to events he foresees, but not so much to the unexpected. She had been fighting to keep him at a distance all this time, but now that conserving energy is no longer an issue, she feels free to take a chance. She tackles him down and puts him in an armbar. Tina maintains her spell on Molly to keep her energized.

Nico concentrates on the USB key Nico gave him. She utters a command: “Absorb!” She accesses the deactivation sequence and stores it deep within her.

“Karolina, I’m going to need your help for the next part.”

Karolina is startled that Nico addressed her. “Sure, what do you need?”

Nico continues: “I’m going to need you to trust me and let me in. Alex was counting on doing it with his helmet. That can’t work anymore, but I think we can do it together. I don’t have your powers, and I don’t know how to use them, but I know what you need to do with your powers. I’m going to link us up so you can read into me and do the deactivation sequence I stored from Alex’s USB key.”

Karolina agrees.

“Okay, I’m going to come closer to you and put my fingers on your temples. Is that okay?”

Karolina nods.

Nico walks over to Karolina and does what she said she would.

“Close your eyes,” instructs Nico as she does the same.

Karolina finds herself propelled deep into Nico’s mind. She is guided by Nico holding her hand as they wander through a maze of surfaces that look like mirrors, a memory from Nico’s life playing in each one. Karolina cannot help but look at them as she walks by, trying not to waste too much time. They feel their way forward as they reach a dark section of the maze: on the surfaces, Karolina sees Amy, dead on her bed, her mother pulling away from the rest of the family, her father trying his best to fake happiness throughout to be brave for his family even though he’s also just as broken up about it as everyone else. Trying to feel her way forward, Karolina accidentally touches one of them, an oppressive impression of self-blame permeates Karolina. Nico pulls Karolina’s hand away and makes sure she’s okay. They progress and reach a well lit section. On the surfaces, Karolina sees herself in countless memories. Karolina could lose herself for hours in there if she let her curiosity get the best of her. The lighting grows progressively dimmer as they approach recent events: Karolina sees her own face looking back in tears. She touches the surface and feels the same self-blame that she felt earlier.

“Come on, we’re getting close,” says Nico.

They finally reach the destination. Karolina sees a surface rapidly flickering and changing colours. She touches the surface and knows exactly what she has to do.

She emerges from Nico’s mind. Although it seemed that they wandered for a long time through Nico’s mind, less than a second has elapsed between Karolina closing her eyes and reopening them. She walks over to Victorious, still pinned down by Molly. She places her hands on his head. She closes her eyes to concentrate as her hands begin a rapid sequence of flickering lights and quickly changing hues.

As this is going on, Molly is holding on for dear life, as Victorious is sparing no effort to free himself. Suddenly, she feels him stop to struggle.

“It’s done,” says Karolina.

“Hey guys, uhm, I know I did a lot of bad things, but I’m me again.”

“If you are, you’ll come with us. We need to make sure,” answers Nico.

“Sure thing.”

Nico opens a portal and everyone walks through it.


	28. Words that we couldn’t say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Runaways deal with the aftermath of their confrontation with Victorious

Molly arrives at the Yorkes residence through the portal Nico had opened for everyone. She spots Gert, watching everyone arrive, averting her gaze when she notices Max’s arrival. Molly walks up to Gert: “It’s okay, he’s fine, we managed to deactivate the artificial neural network that carried Alex’s curse. He’s back to being himself again.”

Gert glares at him, then, looks back at Molly. “I know I shouldn’t feel this way, but part of me really doesn’t care right now,” she tells Molly.

“Do you want to talk about it,” Molly asks.

Gert nods. She and Molly head upstairs. “We’ll have to have this talk in your bedroom,” Gert mentions as they arrive upstairs. They head to Molly’s former bedroom. Molly enters first and turns on the lights and dims the lighting Gert slowly closes the door behind herself after entering. They begin speaking in hushed tones.

“What’s going on,” Molly asks.

“It’s Chase. I spoke to mom. She says that he might die or come out of this with permanent disabilities,” Gert says tearfully.

“Did she say that this would definitely happen?”

“No, she said that she doesn’t know. I have to say that right now, I almost wish that she had lied and told me everything is going to be fine. This whole not knowing thing, it’s just so hard. I don’t know if it’s the situation with Chase or it’s that whatever Victorious gave me to soothe my anxiety that’s wearing off, or some combination of both, but I’m losing my mind over here.”

“Gert, you’re the most capable person I’ve ever met. No matter what, you’ll manage and pull through. Why do you think you’re my hero?”

“Thanks. I just wish I had your confidence right about now.”

“Besides, we’ve got mom, dad, Alex and Nico to help out,” Molly says, unable to endure contemplating a bad outcome.

Gert looks at her sister and feels weak, looking at how much Molly’s bounced back from and hoping she can be as strong as her sister was when tragedy struck at an age where she could not have been possibly prepared to deal with such a shock.

* * *

Nico enters Gert’s bedroom. Although she had initially planned to just walk up to the side of the bed Chase occupied, she wasn’t prepared to see him in this state. Her normally assured gait falters, and she comes to a complete stop upon seeing him hooked up to so many machines. Although she knew beforehand from what Stacey had told everyone about Chase’s condition, seeing him this way makes it seem all too real. She feels powerless: her friend was fighting for his life, as usual Doctor Strange wasn’t answering phone calls, and she didn’t know any spell that might help. She was tempted to use the staff, but knew that if she did, everything they had all gone through would have been for nothing. She reminds herself of her purpose for coming in walks up to the bed and pulls a chair near it.

She takes a seat and puts her index and middle fingers on Chase’s temple closest to her and focuses, trying to get into contact with him.

She enters Chase’s mindspace. It’s not quite clear if it’s the drugs Chase is on or his overall condition, but a thick fog makes it hard for her to navigate. She wanders for a while looking for Chase. As she walks around, she goes through his childhood memories: numerous memories of his parents shown on fractured surfaces. She touches one of them, as overwhelming feelings of love, joy, anger, fear, self-loathing, and self-blame meld into a confusing emotional whirlwind. She continues looking and finally finds him slowly moseying about, looking at memories of Gert with a bittersweet smile on his face. She smiles: of course, where else would Chase be? She walks until she’s beside him.

“Hey Chase.”

He looks a little surprised to see her. “Hey Nico, what are you doing here?”

Nico tries to play it off lighthearted: “I was in the neighbourhood. I thought I’d come by to see how you were doing.”

Chase smiles: “That bad, huh?”

Nico loses her smile. “As we speak, in the outside world, you’re hanging between life and death. Gert is worried sick about you, by the way. I don’t know how she’ll handle it if you don’t come back.”

Chase’s smile disappears and he looks profoundly sad.

Nico continues: “I also came here to thank you. I didn’t know if I’d ever get another chance, so I figured that I might as well do it now while I still have the chance.”

Chase looks perplexed. “Thank me for what?”

“Uhm, well, we couldn’t have freed Alex from his spell without you. I just wanted you to know it.”

Chase answers perplexedly: “I don’t know what you mean. When I got there, it certainly looked like you had everything under control. In fact, if I’d stayed back at the Hostel, Victorious might have never taken Gert and none of this would have ever happened.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I couldn’t have done it without having inhabited the memories of your future self on the night that we fought Morgan. You already know about the part where his memories helped us figure out which curse he was under, but there’s more to it.”

Chase gives Nico a quizzical look. She hesitates a bit, then resumes her explanation: “The counter-spell to Alex's curse demanded a blood sacrifice. Not only that, but it demanded that the person being sacrificed be at peace with the whole thing throughout the process, up until the moment of death. I really had no idea how to do that, especially given how I feel about Karolina. After my latest visit to Doctor Strange, I went over to Leslie’s church where I learned of a prophecy about me. It said that through memories of a vanished future, I would find what I needed. It occurred to me that the prophecy was about our trip to the past when we went through everyone's head, but it took me a little while to figure out that it wasn’t about my own memories, at least not memories that were originally my own. It was your memories: that night, you were willing to lay it all on the line for Gert, even your own life. And then it struck me: the reason you were so at peace with the idea of dying was that you knew that there was another version of you waiting upstairs and that that version of you would have a chance to have future with Gert. That’s what gave me the idea of what I needed to do to defeat Alex and still have a future with Karolina.”

Nico pauses and wipes away a tear, thinking at how hard things have been for Karolina since then and how much she misses her. Chase walks up to Nico and embraces her.

“Karolina still loves you, Nico. I’m sure she does and always will. Just be patient with her. It might be hard, but you two are going to get through this and when you do, your bond will be stronger than ever.”

Nico smiles weakly. “Thanks Chase. Just, please come back. It just wouldn’t be the same without you. By the way, I wandered through some of your childhood memories before finding you. I don’t know if it’s the accident that did this, but I can try to fix it.”

“Don’t. I’m pretty sure that it was that way before Victorious. These memories are painful, but they made me who I am today. With some luck, I might learn from them and not become like my dad was.”

“You could never become like your father, Chase.”

“Yes, I could. I nearly did. This… anger in me, it almost consumed me when we were in the Dark Dimension. For all I know, maybe I was getting set up to have a curse just like Alex.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t do it.”

“I know. It’s because my father talked to me just as I had always hoped he would that I didn’t. I knew he was right, but at that moment, I didn’t care about wrong or right and I thought about what Gert would do. She had a lot of anger in her, still does, but I always admired how she manages to channel it in constructive ways. I figure, if I learn to do the same, I’m set.”

“That’s… pretty insightful, Chase.”

“Thanks. I have my moments. Just don’t let Gert know,” he says with a sly grin.

Nico chuckles lightly. “You’re such a dumbass! I’m just happy that I got to see you. Before I go, is there any message you want me to give Gert?”

“Uhm, just let her know that I’ll do my best to come back. If I don’t, please tell Gert that I love her very much.”

“Will do, but with a bit of luck you’ll be telling her yourself soon enough.”

“Thanks. See you soon, I hope. If he’s there, please be nice to my dad.”

Nico gives him an amused look: “Yeah, that’s just not going to happen. No disrespect,” she answers as she leaves.

* * *

Karolina passes by the kitchen to get a glass of water. She sees Gert there, standing still by the window, looking absentmindedly into the distance. She notices that Gert hasn’t moved at all since the last time she walked by, half an hour earlier. Clearly, her mind is turned inward and whatever thoughts occupy her are monopolizing her attention. Even though she has never been especially close with Gert, she still likes her quite a bit through their mutual friends and Karolina feels obligated to comfort her. As hard as Gert is to get along with at times and as much as a pain in the ass Gert is when she’s right about something, Karolina knows how much Gert loves Chase despite her attempts to downplay her feelings for him, and knowing Gert’s despair surpasses everything else in terms of importance. If recent events have convinced Karolina of anything, it’s that nobody deserves to feel the helplessness of seeing someone they love getting hurt and being powerless to do anything about it.

“Hey Gert, how are you holding up,” Karolina asks hesitantly.

Gert snaps out of the contemplation that she was engaged in. She turns to face Karolina, wiping away tears from her cheeks.

“I’m fine, thanks,” she says, smiling unconvincingly.

Noticing Karolina seeing through her obvious lie, Gert’s brave façade lasts only a few seconds, before crumbling down. She starts sobbing openly.

Karolina closes the distance between them and pulls Gert in for a hug.

She speaks softly in Gert’s ear: “Shhhhh, Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Chase is going to pull through and you’ll be together, and everything’s going to be fine.”

Before speaking that sentence, Karolina had half-expected Gert to attack her optimistic outlook by coming up with a worst-case scenario, but nevertheless said it because she felt that providing comfort was the most important priority on such occasions.

Gert surprises Karolina by meekly responding: “I sure hope you’re right.”

“Gert, I know that we’re not close or anything, but if you need to talk about it, I want you to know that I’m there for you.”

“Thanks. I just hope that Chase knows how I feel about him.”

“I’m sure he does.”

Gert smiles a little. “Are you sure about that? He was so clueless sometimes.”

Karolina chuckles a bit. “Yeah, he really was.”

Gert’s smile turns to sadness when she thinks about how much she loved that about him and how she hated herself for liking it.

“Actually, now that I think of it, I do need to tell you something,” says Gert, suddenly looking focussed.

Karolina is a little surprised.

Gert continues: “I never told anyone else, so what I’m about to tell you is strictly between you and me.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Karolina replies while making the cross gesture over her heart.

“Do you remember how, after Chase left us and came back, I gave him a hard time about everything?”

Karolina answers: “Of course. It was a little comical how petty you were. I think we were all mad at Chase.”

“Yeah,” Gert replies regretfully, “here’s the part that I never told anyone. Even though I was constantly giving him all this grief and he had every reason to be angry with me by that point, he came by one evening to tell me how amazing and incredible I was and that he not only loved me and had done so for a long time, but that I was right about him and he’d been too stupid and insecure to tell me.”

“Yeah, and then you two got back together,” Karolina interjects.

“Not quite,” Gert answers, “I wanted to get back with him so badly, but I flat out refused to give him a proper response. Soon after that, I started dating Victor, uh, Max, uh, whatever…”

“Gert, you couldn’t have known that it would turn out this way.”

“I know. That’s not what this is about. I acted so mean toward Chase because it really hurt me when he left. And part of the reason why I gave him such a hard time wasn’t so much because of what he had done, it was because I was conflicted about it: while I was hurt by his leaving so suddenly, I understood his reasons even though I really didn’t want to. And my way of reconciling the two was to shut Chase out as much as I could.”

“Gert, I already knew.”

Gert chuckles ironically. “Yeah, I suppose _you_ would: you always seemed to see right through me. What I’m trying to get at is that despite all of that, as much as Chase hurt me when he left, the pain I felt after he came back and told me he loved me was self-inflicted. I wanted to be with him so badly, but I was so afraid to take that chance and be hurt again. And now all I can think about is that I’d give anything for more time with Chase and how much time I wasted fighting myself over wanting to be with him. I’m looking at you and Nico right now, and although I know it’s none of my business and you can tell me off if you want to, but I just think that you two love each other and complement each other so well. It’d be a real shame if you came to regret anything about that.”

Karolina smiles gratefully: “Thank you, Gert. Tell me: why didn’t we get along before?”

“I think it’s that we’re both very insightful in our own way about other people, but sometimes a bit clueless in some ways about ourselves, and while we like being able to tell others the truth about themselves, we don’t appreciate it when others tell us truths about ourselves that we don’t like.”

“Yeah, that seems about right. Could we be friends? For real, this time.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

* * *

Alex hears a knock on the door of the Yorkes residence. He wonders who it could be given the number of people currently staying there. He goes through the possibilities as he walks up to the door to open it, not having resolved the enigma as he opens the door. To his surprise, he finds Livvie standing there.

“Uh… hi,” he says, once the initial shock has worn off enough for him to become able to speak again.

“Hi Alex. It’s nice to see you,” she says in understated fashion.

They stand there, awkwardly for half a minute, neither knowing what to do or say.

“Ummm,” says Alex, “she would go for a walk or do you want to come inside?”

“A walk would be nice. We can go inside after.”

Alex grabs his coat and heads out with Livvie. They walk at a leisurely pace, both wanting to say something, but not knowing how to break the ice. Finally, Livvie says: “You still owe me.”

“I beg your pardon,” answers Alex, confused by the sentence uttered out without context.

Livvie smiles, amused by Alex’s confusion that she deliberately sowed. “When you were still under your curse, I told you that I didn’t know if I was falling for someone who would be unavailable to me. You told me that you couldn’t share everything, but you promised that you would tell me when you’re ready. You were under a curse then, but I’ve been told that’s no longer the case. Are you going to tell me now?”

“Uh yeah, I’d love to.” He pauses and thinks of the many things he'd like to tell Livvie. It's overwhelming. “I don’t even know where to begin, to be honest.”

“Why don’t you begin by telling me how you’re feeling right now?”

“Right now? I’m feeling so many things at once. I’m really happy to see you. And at the same time, I feel like I really don’t deserve to be here with you after everything. I was planning to kill so many people, including you. Chase is badly hurt. He might not make it.”

“Yeah, I heard. I know you already know it, but I think you need to hear someone else say it: it wasn’t all your fault. You had a Vendetta Curse.”

“Thanks, I know. It’s just, I was thinking that I’d make it up to everyone, and then, if Chase doesn’t make it, I’ll never be able to make it up to him. And whenever I’ll see Gert, I know what she’ll be thinking when I’ll see the sadness in her eyes when she looks at me. And because of that, I’ll never be able to look her in the eyes again. And if I’m ever happy with you, I’d never be able to feel right about it because it’ll seem so unfair that I be happy when I took away my friend’s chance at happiness, and…”

Livvie interrupts him. “Alex, you’re getting way ahead of yourself. Chase hasn’t died yet, it might not even happen and he could die at a ripe old age having lived a full life.” She gets a playful grin. “Besides, I haven’t said that we’re getting back together, Mr. Cocky.”

Alex finally smiles a little, much to Livvie’s relief.

* * *

Chase wakes up slowly. Initially feeling disoriented, he soon recognizes Gert’s old bedroom, but has no idea how he got there. _Must’ve been portals_ , he thinks to himself. The decorations had changed a lot since their days as a kid, but in a way that was always in good continuity with what Gert had been. He looks around and sees that he’s got tubes stuck seemingly everywhere and is hooked up to several machines monitoring his vitals. He has a headache for the ages and every inch of his body feels bruised. He notices a patch of purple hair on his thigh. All of a sudden, the pain doesn’t feel so bad. Gert had stayed there all night: her mother had told her the edema was resorbing nicely and that they could begin the process of bringing him back. She was evasive about what shape he would be in because she didn’t know the answer.

“Gert?”

Gert suddenly raises her head. She had been sleeping, having collapsed to sleep from exhaustion, and the mere sound of his voice had jolted her wide awake.

“Chase?” she asks in disbelief, squinting in his direction. She puts on her glasses, gets a little embarrassed, and quickly arranges her hair. As far as Chase is concerned, she never looked more gorgeous. “Can I get you a glass of water? Your mouth must be so dry right now.”

“Yeah, thanks, that would be nice.”

She heads out and comes back, so excited to see Chase that she finds it difficult to walk slowly enough not to spill water all over the floor. She is positively beaming when she sees him again, the short trip to get him a glass of water having seemed like an eternity to her.

Although he is overjoyed with seeing Gert, Chase is only able to smile weakly. He takes a sip. “Thanks. I’m alright. Well, obviously I’m not alright, I basically ache everywhere right now, and I have the worst headache I’ve ever had, but I’ll be fine, I think,” he says as he moves around a little to make sure every part of him still works. He pauses to look at Gert and continues his voice conveying boundless depth of emotions: “Am I ever glad to be here with you. I was so afraid that I’d never get to see you again. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

Gert matches Chase's emotions with her reaction. “Chase.” she says, overwhelmed with emotion. Tears of elation and relief well in her eyes. She gently cups his face in her hands and runs the pads of her thumbs along his cheekbones, blissfully unaware of everything else until Molly can be heard shouting from just outside the door: “Hey everyone! Come! Come! Chase is awake!”

Soon enough, a chorus of footsteps can be heard stomping in the hallways, and Gert’s old room rapidly fills up with everyone present at the Yorkes residence.

Her first reaction to Molly’s words being shock, then embarrassment, Gert is unable to intervene before the room is full. She turns beet red and moves aside as everyone else files into the room. As people swarm around Chase, telling him how glad they are to see him, something that had long been building up inside Gert prompts her to interrupt the cheerful celebrations: “Excuse me everyone, but there’s a matter I need to talk about with Chase. Could we have a minute?” Seeing no one moving, Gert continues in a slightly irritated tone: “Alone.”

Gert gives Karolina a pleading look. Karolina wraps her arm around Nico’s shoulder and whispers in her ear: “Come on Nico, I think they need to be alone for a bit. You don’t want to be there when it turns saccharine sweet, do you?” Completely taken by surprise, Nico turns her head and looks into Karolina’s adoring eyes. Nico nearly cries with joy right then and there, before being dragged off by Karolina. One by one, everyone files out of the room. Molly smiles and gives her a subtle thumbs up as she leaves to encourage her sister. “You got this,” she whispers softly as she walks by so only Gert will hear it.

Gert closes the door after everyone leaves and nervously looks down at the floor as she speaks: “Chase, I need to tell you how I feel about you before I chicken out again.” Gert hesitates, searching for a rational way to say it, growing more nervous every passing second. Incomplete fragments of thoughts she had rehearsed while in captivity race through her mind too fast for her mouth to verbalize, leaving her undecided as to which words to say first before she finally blurts out: “I love you.”

If her mind was racing just before, her mental gears grind to a halt as a single thought occupies her mind in the immediate aftermath: _what did I just say?_ She pauses, so nervous that she finds herself unable to look in Chase’s direction. She confesses with a shaky voice: “I, uh, I just really needed you to know it. I’m sorry if it’s not grand or romantic or eloquent or any of that shit. It’s just… I’ve felt it for a long time, but I was always too afraid to say it. I guess that I thought not telling you would make it hurt less if I ever lost you because I could always look back and tell myself that I didn’t really love you because if I truly had, I would have told you. It’s ridiculous, I know, right? Please don't answer that.”

She slightly raises her gaze as she walks over to Chase, still not quite feeling confident enough to look him in the eyes. Long repressed words come pouring out of her mouth, like water finally breaking through a dam: “I’m sorry that it took me so long to come to grips with it. My feelings for you were always in opposition to my fear of losing you. When the gang drifted apart following Amy’s death, I lost my best friend. I always got so tongue tied around you and I felt like such an idiot because, really, my childhood crush on you never really went away. And then I got my wish in the craziest of circumstances, and I was with you, and you weren’t repulsed by my anxiety issues. Then you went away and when you came back, I was so mad at myself for still having feelings for you that I took out my anger on you and I tried everything I could to push you away so I could get over you. And then, we got back together and that very same day, I saw the future version of you die in my arms. It made me understand that you were in it until the end, and it terrified me, because it also made me realize that even if you weren’t going to leave me, I could still end up losing you anyway.”

Chase goes to speak, but Gert gently puts her the fingertip of her index over his lips before he gets the chance to speak. Gert takes Chase’s hand in hers and squeezes it softly. He reciprocates. She starts crying tears of relief. “But I almost did lose you, Chase. And do you know all I could think about during all that time you were lying unconscious on this bed and I was losing my mind with worry? It was how when I was freaking out like this in the past, having you around made it better and it made me wish more than anything that you could be there with me. Except you couldn’t and I just kept thinking that you might die without me having let you know how I feel about you or that you could come out of it and no longer be yourself. Even after the future version of you died in my arms, I could always tell myself that it wasn’t really you, that you were still alive right here and now and you were there with me. But this time, if you were gone, you’d be really gone. I just kept remembering all the times where I had wanted to tell you, but didn’t. And I kept wishing that I could go back and tell you over and over again until you’d be sick of hearing it. Except I couldn’t. I was stuck here, filled with regret. I know you think I’m brave, but when it comes to how I feel about you, I’m such a chickenshit, always have been. I just kept thinking of all the rationalizations I had told myself to justify not telling you, and ultimately, they all were such bullshit as I’d always known, but had never faced up to. Knowing that and thinking that I might never get another chance to make things right just hurt so much.”

Feeling herself getting carried away with her emotions, Gert closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and exhales slowly to calm herself before speaking again. When she opens her eyes, she finally looks up and meets Chase’s gaze. He looks at her so tenderly that all her fears about telling him melt away. She smiles genuinely as tears of joy stream down her cheeks, her happiness uncontainable. “But now, I have that chance. I love you, Chase. I love you so much it scares me. I love how kind and sweet and forgiving you are. I love how understanding and patient you are. You’re all these things in a way that I often wish I were, and I admire you for it. I love how I can tell you anything. I love even the things you do that get on my nerves.” She gets a mischievous look on her face and continues: “And if you mention coach Alphona or anything like that right now, I’m so going to kick your ass.”

The shift in Chase’s facial expression from being genuinely moved to hilarity and back to being moved just made Gert’s day. “I love you too, Gert. Thank you for saying it, it was beautiful. Even the punchline. It meant a lot to me and I’ll cherish this moment for the rest of my life. I just want you to know that I already knew that you loved me even though you hadn’t said it with words. There were so many other ways you showed me. Like how you were there for me when I told you about what happened to me in the Dark Dimension. It was how even though I completely fumbled the ball when I asked you out on our first date, you made the recovery and made it even better than I had envisioned. Sorry for the bad sports analogy, please don’t hurt me.”

Gert laughs and cries at the same time.

Chase continues: “It was how you defended me and believed in me when Nico and Karolina thought that I might be under a curse. Or when you stayed behind to protect me from Victorious. You are so not a chickenshit when it comes to me, Gert. I sometimes let my insecurities get the best of me when I should have trusted myself. When I tell you that you’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met, it’s because of moments like these and all the other moments where you’ve shown me that you’ll stand up for what you think is right no matter what. It really made me grateful to be by your side and that the person that I’ve admired the most for as long as I can remember would choose to be my partner.”

Gert beams at Chase. “I can’t believe how I didn’t want anyone to know how I felt about you, and now I just want to shout it from the rooftops so everyone knows it,” she says, wiping away the tears from her cheek.

They hear Molly’s voice come loud and clear through the wall. “Well, that’s good to hear. In case you don’t remember, Gert, the walls in this house are paper thin.”

Gert rolls her eyes as she walks over to open the door. She sees everyone, not a dry eye in the place. She intended to be mad, but seeing everyone’s reaction, she doesn’t regret a thing.

* * *

Nico and Karolina walk into the garage of the Yorkes’ residence, Nico leading the way. As much as they appreciated hearing Gert and Chase earlier, they wanted some privacy for their discussion. 

Before Nico gets the chance to speak, Karolina beats her to it: “I just want you to know that I still love you, and I’m not angry with you.”

Caught unprepared for Karolina’s words, Nico responds: “Thank you. I love you too.”

Karolina continues: “I understand why you did what you did, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

“I’m so sorry that you got caught up in all of this. You deserved better than to be dragged into this whole mess, and I still feel guilty about it,” Nico answers, looking contrite, her gaze shifting away from Karolina.

In her most reassuring voice, Karolina gently tells her: “Nico, look at me.”

Karolina waits patiently until Nico slowly and uncertainly shifts her gaze and looks her straight in the eyes before continuing. She tenderly caresses her cheek as she says: “Nico, I think we all deserved better than what happened because of the staff, you included.”

Nico gives Karolina a sad smile, thinking about how she ended up hurting Karolina. “I just want to be there for you the same way you’ve been there for me. I really didn't want to hurt you.”

“I know. Thank you. I really appreciate it. I really appreciate how patient and kind you’ve been with me. I read your letter. It was really touching. I just want you to know that despite the difficult circumstances, being with you also made me so happy, but we won’t be able to move forward if you’re plagued with guilt over what happened.”

Nico tears up. Karolina just knows her so well, and her warm reassurance just makes her want to share every part of herself. She confesses: “I know. It’s something I’ve struggled with ever since Amy died.”

“Nico, that wasn’t your fault.”

Hearing Karolina say it, Nico believes it. “I know you’re right, but my feelings have been telling me otherwise. It’s like Gert’s anxiety: she can't help it. Neither can I, but I can learn to deal with it. I’m always afraid of losing the ones I care about. When you flew into that building to buy Chase some time, I was so afraid for you.”

“I understand. You know, others feel the same way about you too, me especially. You try so hard to save everyone. Maybe for once you could let someone else save you?”

“You're right, thanks,” Nico says gratefully, feeling that mere gratitude isn't enough. Nico takes Karolina up on her offer as she admits. “This whole business with the staff, I just don’t know how much more of it I can take.”

“If we know, we can manage. I told you, I’ll stick with you through thick and thin.”

Nico takes out a scalpel she had taken from Stacey’s lab.

“If you’ll be there for me, I can check out.”

Karolina nods.

Nico turns her back to Karolina, so she doesn’t have to see her cutting herself. She slices her own palm. As she bleeds, the staff emerges from her chest. She seizes it as Karolina looks on from behind. Nico stands still in silence with the staff in her hands for several seconds. Karolina gets concerned when she hears Nico sniffle, then full on crying. Nico turns around with a shocked expression on her face and says: “It’s… depleted. Finally, it’s drained.”

Tears of relief stream down Nico's face. The power she felt whenever she held the staff in her hand is gone. She can scarcely believe it. 

Karolina walks up to Nico, puts her palms on her cheeks and kisses her. She smiles as tears of joy roll down her cheeks. “What did I tell you when you first told me about the curse on the staff?”

Nico starts laughing joyfully. “You told me that we’d get through this.”

“And we did. Because you saw to it. We all did.”

Nico takes Karolina's hand in her uninjured hand and kisses her knuckles, the future finally seeming like something to be looked forward to rather than a minefield to be feared. They rejoin their friends and share the joyful news. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to comment. Regardless of if it's what you like about the story or what you think could be improved, I enjoy the feedback.


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